[Anomylous]

This obviously won't fit everyone's campaign setting, but maybe someone out there will like it enough to steal it, and since I don't have a blog I thought I'd post it here.

I wanted something that would feel like historical polytheism, without being too firmly tied to any specific real-world culture. In the setting I'm building, this is the old pagan religion. It was officially ousted by missionaries from the Temple of Enok a couple hundred years ago, but is still frequently practiced, especially in rural areas. Whether these gods are "real" in the setting, or not, is more or less beside the point.

The calendar assumes a temperate climate with defined seasons, and lunar and solar cycles the same as Earth's. I stole its basic structure from the LotR:RotK appendices.

(ETA: feel free to share anything similar you have going in your own notebooks or campaigns!)

Pantheon:

Anath:
Goddess of hunting, the wilderness, and archery. Protector of children and the innocent, and of animals and nature; often worshipped by hunters, and anyone who spends a lot of time in the woods. She's often shown as having the head of a wolf or bear, and/or deer's antlers, but always with a bow in hand. Anath, Astoreth, and Lilith are grouped together as the Rebel Goddesses, and sometimes regarded as three faces of the same entity.

Astoreth:
"All's fair in love and war." Goddess of sex and warfare, blood and passion. Popular among soldiers, bandits, and mercenary types, and anyone who recklessly seeks after both power and pleasure. Often portrayed as a beautiful Orcish woman wielding twin axes; or as part-woman, part-tiger, with snakes twining around her.

Bellus: Sun-god; said to rule the land of the living by day, and the land of the dead by night. Associated with kings, justice, wealth, and prosperity. Sacred animal is the eagle; generally portrayed with wings and sunrays emanating from his head. Bellus lost a lot of prominence with the establishment of Enok-worship as the state religion, but the royal mint still stamps their gold coins with his "shining eagle" symbol.

Bria Sangetaal: Goddess of fire, the hearth, poetry, music, and various handicrafts. Often prayed to by women hoping to conceive, and artists hoping for inspiration. You can tell how wild a party will be, by whether it kicks off with a toast to Bria or to Astoreth!

Epona: Goddess of horses; worshipped by centaurs as their divine Mother, and usually portrayed in centaur form. Among those who ride, she is said to appear at death to carry their spirit into the afterlife.

Kothron Sangetaal:
God of smithcraft, science and knowledge, and poetry; symbol is a (circle-drawing) compass. Armorer to the gods; created the sword Fragarach for Bellus, among other things. Together, Bria and Kothron represent the comforts of home, marriage, and civilization; they're typically portrayed as either humans or dwarves, often with many arms, each holding a different tool or instrument.

Lilith: Associated with death, magic, mystical knowledge, and boundaries; beautiful and cold. For refusing to submit to fate, she is cursed to wander forever between life and death. Sometimes invoked to protect newborn children and those who are near death, or undergoing great suffering. Owls and the banshee-bat are considered sacred to her. Few wizards are religious, but Lilith was traditionally their patron deity. She's most often portrayed as an ancient, silver-haired elf in ragged robes.

Nereus: mysterious god of the deep ocean, said to rule over a separate afterlife designated for sailors lost at sea. Often shown as a vast squid or octopus with an old man's face.

Oraia: Goddess of healing, prophecy, and water. A scattering of wells, subterranean lakes and springs are said to be particularly sacred to her, and she's also associated with beaches and seashores. Moonlights as a love goddess; often portrayed as a mermaid. Honored as Queen of the Gods to Bellus's King, but there's some disagreement over whether she's the wife or mother of Bellus. Some say she's both.

Procyon: Shapeshifting trickster god; favored form and sacred animal is the raccoon. There are a huge number of stories about his exploits; a popular one is how the sword Fragarach was lost when he stole it from Bellus and subsequently misplaced it (some say he lost it in a bet; there are many variations of the tale). Procyon is said to enjoy seducing mortals, men and women alike, assuming whatever form is most pleasing to whoever has caught his eye. It's common for grifters to claim to be children of Procyon... after they're caught out as grifters, anyway.

Senua: Mother-goddess of plants and agriculture, popular among farmers; affectionately called "Ma Senua." Commonly shown as a rosy-cheeked halfling with vines for hair and arms full of fruit and bread, with bees buzzing around her.

Wirenlea: Sky-god, bringer of winds, storms and rain. Irresponsible younger brother of Bellus. Popular among farmers, sailors, and travelers. Typically shown as a young man with wings and wild curly hair, surrounded by clouds; sacred animal is the gryphon. Often paired with Epona.

(The sword Fragarach is stolen from Irish mythology; if found it would be a fine/enchanted broadsword, with the powers to ignore armor enchantments and Flesh spells, and to remove a figure's ability to move (as Stop spell) or tell a lie, when placed at their throat.)

Calendar:

The year consists of twelve 30-day months, plus 5 "festal days" around the summer and winter solstices (plus an extra on leap year). Weeks are 6 days long so there are exactly 5 weeks in a month. Each month is named after its full moon. Dates are given by month and day: "the tenth of Flower Moon", usually written "4-10."

Wolf Moon
Hungry Moon
Sap Moon
Flower Moon
Singing Moon
Mead Moon

Summer festal days:
(Leap Day)
Bonfire Night
Midsummer Day

Dragon Moon
Gold Moon
Harvest Moon
Blood Moon
Ghost Moon
Ice Moon

Winter festal days:
Winter's Eve
Yule
Dreaming Day

The last day of each week (date divisible by 6) is Highday, aka Market Day. The date on which a full moon falls is a holiday; a full moon that falls on a festal day is called a Joy Moon.

2-18 is Sangetaal, celebrated with a festival dedicated to music, art and craft fairs, and matchmaking.

3-30 is the Festival of Waters. It's supposed to be a day of ritual purification sacred to Oraia, but over time that's turned into "get stinking drunk and jump in a river." More restrained types celebrate by spring-cleaning their homes, and in some riverside towns, people make tiny votive boats filled with candles and flowers and set them afloat at sundown.

Bonfire Night is always a wild party, with as many pyrotechnical flourishes as can be mustered.

Midsummer Day is Bellus' sacred day, so the tradition is that anyone who feels they're being treated unjustly can bring their case before the local authorities, who will put things to rights. It's a nice thought, anyway; goverment officials still make a big ceremonial show out of pardoning a petty criminal, or settling a dispute in the underdog's favor for once, to mark the occasion. Most people spend the day picnicking and napping, and the evening dancing.

Full Dragon Moon: At some point, people started a tradition of parading through city streets in elaborate dragon costumes to mark this holiday, which falls on a different date every year. It was originally just a play on the name "Dragon Moon", but local dragons caught wind of the custom, and began showing up to the party, demanding to be made guests of honor! Today, dragons have pride of place in the festivities, serving as reasonably impartial judges for various competitions, and of course collecting tribute. Overall, it's been a boon to humanoid-dragon relations.

9-30 is Senufest (Senua's Feast), a celebration of abundance. Feasting is a must, gift-giving is traditional, and merchants offer special sales.

10-30 is Hallow's Eve, when the spirits of the dead are said to cross back into the land of the living for a night. Originally, offerings to ancestral ghosts and to Lilith were left in doorways, usually in the form of fruit, bread and sweets. Kids began to disguise themselves as ghosts to steal the offerings, and now people just hand out goodies to hordes of small sheet-draped figures at their doorstep. Real ghosts sometimes show up; they're harmless enough... usually.

12-25 through 12-30 is Candle Week; homes are decorated in red and orange, and whatever greenery is available, and windows are lit with candles. Turning away a guest during Candle Week is considered especially rude. Those who can take the week off work.

Winter's Eve: Mostly just a continuation of Candle Week, now with door-to-door caroling.

Yule: A big feast day. Various traditional games are played, fires are ceremonially extinguished and relit, and everyone shows up in a nice new outfit, if they can; clothing is often gifted on Yule morning.

Dreaming Day: No public festivities; most people are too busy sleeping off the festivities of Candle Week and Yule, and any dreams they may have are said to be omens indicating how next year might go.