New Pantheon Part III

Mithras, Centurion of the Gods

God of Honor, Discipline, Courage, Protection, Civilization, and Sacred Oaths

Mithras is the noble warrior-god who stands as the shield of civilization against the darkness beyond its borders. He is the embodiment of discipline, duty, and righteous strength; the divine champion who believes that order, virtue, and courage are the foundations upon which mortal societies endure. Unlike gods who seek glory through conquest or domination, Mithras fights simply for the preservation of what is worth protecting. He is the guardian of cities, the defender of the innocent, and the patron of those who accept responsibility when others flee. To his followers, true strength is not measured by how many enemies one defeats, but by how faithfully one upholds one’s duties when no reward is promised.

When the world was young and chaos threatened to overwhelm mortal peoples, Mithras took his place among humanity, teaching warriors the virtues of restraint, loyalty, and sacrifice, and leading the charge against the enemies of humanity in the titanic battles of the gods against their predecessors in the Gigantomachy. Mithras is depicted as an idealized warrior clad in gleaming armor. His expression is stern but honorable, his gaze steady and unwavering. Though he is a warrior, Mithras is not a god of endless battle. He despises needless violence, cruelty, and the pursuit of power for its own sake. He teaches that a warrior’s purpose is not to prove strength, but to stand between danger and those who cannot stand against it themselves. He honors soldiers, guards, judges, and leaders who place duty above comfort.

His temples are built like fortresses, with training halls, armories, and sacred chambers where followers swear oaths of service. His strongest supporters are often soldiers, commanders, magistrates, and guardians who preserve ancient traditions of honor. Initiates into his doctrine are taught that every oath is a bond stronger than steel, and every betrayal weakens the foundations of the world. 

Among the gods, Mithras is respected even by those who disagree with him. The ambitious gods may find him rigid, the chaotic gods may find him restrictive, and the darker gods may find him intolerably virtuous, but few question his courage or his integrity. Even his enemies recognize that Mithras cannot be bribed, frightened, or tempted away from his principles.

Below are two interpretations of Mithras.

Mokosh, the Swamp Mother

Goddess of Witchcraft, Dark Magic, Marshes, Secrets, and the Hidden Mysteries of the Wild

Mokosh, the Swamp Mother, is the ancient hag queen of the forgotten wetlands, a sinister and powerful goddess who dwells among the drowned forests, mist-covered bogs, and places where the boundaries between the mortal world and the unseen realms grow thin. She is the keeper of forbidden enchantments, the grandmother of witches, and the patron of those who seek power through secrets that wiser beings leave untouched. Where other gods represent the beauty and balance of nature, Mokosh embodies the twisted, hidden side of the wild, the poisonous root beneath the flower, the strange magic found in abandoned places, and the ancient wisdom that comes at a terrible price. She is not a overtly spiteful like Gorthalyx, nor does she delight solely in suffering. Mokosh is a more patient and cunning evil, a collector of secrets who believes that all knowledge belongs to those clever enough to take it.

She was among the earliest beings to discover the hidden currents of magic flowing beneath creation. While the younger gods shaped kingdoms and laws, Mokosh learned the forgotten names of things, the whispers of spirits, and the spells that could bend life, death, and nature itself. She is depicted as an enormous and ancient hag, with tangled, stringy hair, withered limbs, and a face both hideous and strangely wise. Her skin resembles cracked bark and swamp mud, and her eyes shine with the eerie knowledge of countless centuries. She carries a twisted wooden staff and wherever she walks, wretched mushrooms fester, insects gather, and the waters of the marsh grow dark, putid and still.

Mokosh is sometimes called the Queen of Witches, for she taught mortals the first forbidden spells. She grants power to those willing to sacrifice comfort, morality, or even pieces of themselves in exchange for knowledge. Her magic is not flashy or destructive but it is old, secretive, and unsettling. She teaches curses, transformations, spirit-binding, and the ancient arts that allow mortals to bargain with forces beyond their understanding. Her relationship with Gorthalyx, the Brine That Walks, is one of the strangest among the darker powers. The two hag-goddesses are sometimes described as sisters, sometimes rivals, and sometimes bitter companions. Where Gorthalyx represents loneliness, fear, and the cruelty of being abandoned, Mokosh represents the secrets whispered to those who have been forgotten. Together, they are said to rule hidden corners of the swamp: one stalking the lost, the other offering forbidden knowledge to those desperate enough to listen. Yet even Gorthalyx respects Mokosh’s cunning, for the Swamp Mother understands something the Brine That Walks does not: fear may break mortals, but temptation can make them willingly surrender themselves.

Her followers are witches, hedge sorcerers, warlocks, and seekers of forbidden knowledge. Her shrines are hidden beneath twisted trees and in flooded caves, marked by strange carvings, bundles of herbs, bones, and offerings left by those seeking answers. Her priests rarely reveal themselves, preferring to work through whispers, bargains, and carefully planted secrets. 

The other gods distrust Mokosh deeply. Even darker deities consider her dangerous, for she does not seek simple destruction or domination. She seeks understanding, and knowledge, once gained, can never be taken back. But Mokosh is sometimes sought by the reckless because of her secrets and the wisdom that she could potentially impart, and many legends tell of those who found her advice crucial in accomplishing some Herculean task. For Mokosh always has an answer. The question is what she will ask in return.

One interpretation of Mokosh.

Mornath-Gul, the Black Conqueror

God of Tyranny, Conquest, Domination, Oppression, and the Iron Rule of the Strong

Mornath-Gul is the dark champion of tyranny, the divine embodiment of conquest without mercy and power without restraint. He is the patron of warlords, tyrants, despots, and all those who believe that the world exists to be controlled by those strong enough to seize it. Where honorable warrior gods defend kingdoms and uphold oaths, Mornath-Gul seeks only submission and the breaking of wills, the crushing of resistance, and the transformation of all nations into instruments of his ambition.

Unlike gods of chaos or destruction, Mornath-Gul does not desire the end of civilization. He desires civilization perfected into a machine of obedience. He dreams of a world where every person has a place beneath a ruler’s command, where armies march without question, and where mercy is considered a weakness that prevents true greatness. Mornath-Gul is depicted as a towering and imposing warlord clad in blackened armor, forged from the weapons of conquered armies. His face is hidden behind a horned helmet, sometimes with a skull-like visage that epitomizes the cold, emotionless expression of a conqueror who has never known defeat. He carries a massive sword not as a symbol of battle, but as a reminder that every command is backed by force.

His followers are tyrants, generals, slavers, cruel nobles, and those who believe order can only exist through absolute control. His temples resemble fortresses, filled with banners of defeated kingdoms and records of past conquests. His priests teach that freedom is chaos, compassion is weakness, and obedience is the highest virtue. Yet Mornath-Gul is not a mindless brute. He is patient, calculating, and terrifyingly disciplined. He respects strength, strategy, and ambition, even among his enemies. A worthy opponent who refuses to kneel earns his admiration, though never his mercy. To him, resistance is simply a challenge that proves the value of eventual victory.

Among the gods, Mornath-Gul is despised by protectors and champions of justice, but even they acknowledge his dangerous effectiveness. Unlike lesser villains who destroy without purpose, he builds. He creates armies, establishes empires, and imposes order upon the lands he conquers. The horror of Mornath-Gul is that his kingdoms may appear prosperous from afar, until one sees what has been sacrificed to maintain them. The dark champion promises an end to chaos and peace through submission.

Below are several interpretations of Mornath-Gul.

Morvain, the Green Warden

God of Forests, Growing Things, Wild Nature, Renewal, and the Guardianship of Life

Morvain, the Green Warden, is the ancient protector of all that grows beneath the open sky. He is the spirit of the deep forest, the strength of the ancient tree, and the patient endurance of life that pushes through stone, ash, and ruin. Where other nature gods may represent the beauty of the wild or the creatures that inhabit it, Morvain stands as the guardian of the living world itself: the roots, branches, leaves, seeds, and countless unseen forces that allow nature to endure.

Before forests covered the land and before mortals learned to cultivate the soil, he walked among the first groves as their protector. He watched over the earliest trees, guiding their growth and defending them from the forces that sought to consume or corrupt the natural world. Unlike Cernunnos, who represents the primal wilderness and the laws of the hunt, Morvain is the defender and caretaker of the growing world. He despises those who treat nature as a resource without spirit. He believes that forests are not obstacles to be conquered, but ancient living kingdoms with their own wisdom and purpose.

Morvain is depicted as a powerful, towering figure with the form of an ancient guardian. His body is broad and strong, covered in bark-like armor, moss, and living leaves. His hair resembles tangled branches and foliage, and his eyes glow with the deep green light of a forest untouched by time. Wherever he stands, flowers bloom beneath his feet and small trees grow from the earth behind him. Though he is a protector, Morvain is not a gentle or passive deity. Those who threaten the forests awaken his wrath. He has little patience for those who burn ancient woods, poison rivers, or destroy wild places for greed. Armies that enter his sacred forests intending to conquer them, find the trees themselves rising against them, their paths swallowed by roots and their weapons broken by living wood. He does not hate mortals, but he is profoundly wary of them, distrusts them, and has little patience for them if they cause trouble in his woodlands.

His followers are druids, rangers, herbalists, gardeners, and guardians of sacred groves. His temples are rarely built of stone, but instead grown from living trees, woven branches, and enchanted gardens. Among the gods, Morvain is regarded as ancient, often impatient, and immensely always implacable. He rarely involves himself in the concerns of mortals unless the natural world itself is threatened. Even gods of war and conquest recognize that his anger is not easily overcome, for they may defeat armies but they cannot easily defeat a forest that refuses to die.

Below is an interpretation of Morvain.

Nachash, the Serpent

Primordial Being of Reptilian Dominion, Ancient Memory, Primordial Life, and the Reclamation of the World

Nachash, the Serpent, is an ancient primordial being who predates humanity and all mortal civilizations. He is a relic of a forgotten age, a survivor from a time when the world belonged to scaled creatures, when great reptiles ruled the land, and when the ancestors of mortals were insignificant creatures hiding beneath ancient shadows. To Nachash, humanity is merely an infestation that needs to be exterminated.

Before the rise of mankind, the world was ruled by vast serpentine empires and monstrous reptilian creatures that walked beneath the sun. In those forgotten ages, Nachash was a great and terrible presence among them, an ancient intelligence that guided the first serpent civilizations and taught them the secrets of survival, domination, and sorcery. When the great reptiles vanished and humanity eventually rose to prominence, Nachash viewed it as a corruption of the natural order, a brief and unnatural age that must eventually come to an end.

Unlike gods who seek to destroy mortals out of hatred or vengeance, Nachash sees humanity as a temporary mistake. He believes the world has merely fallen into the wrong hands, and that the time will come when the old rulers return. Nachash is depicted as a colossal serpent-like entity of impossible age. Some legends describe him as a gigantic primordial serpent whose coils stretch across forgotten valleys, while others portray him as a powerful serpent-man with a humanoid upper body covered in ancient scales, surrounded and attended to by additional snakes. His eyes burn with the cold intelligence of a creature that has watched countless ages pass, and his voice carries the weight of memories older than civilization itself. His form is often adorned with remnants of the ancient world: fossilized armor, jewels from forgotten kingdoms, and markings resembling the scales of creatures that vanished millions of years before mortals existed. He represents not merely snakes, but the entire forgotten age of reptiles: the dinosaurs, the primordial beasts, and the ancient life that once dominated the earth.

Nachash despises humanity’s cities, kingdoms, and monuments, seeing them as temporary scars upon the world. He believes mortals have grown arrogant, mistaking their brief dominance for true ownership. His greatest desire is not simply humanity’s extinction, but the return of the ancient world: the rise of serpent kingdoms, reptilian civilizations, and the restoration of an age where scaled creatures once again stand above all others. His followers are serpent cults, ancient reptilian beings, forbidden scholars, and those who believe humanity’s age is nearing its end. They seek lost ruins, forgotten fossils, and ancient magic capable of restoring the creatures of the elder world. They whisper of a coming era when the jungles will spread across abandoned cities and the descendants of the first reptiles will reclaim the earth.

The other gods regard Nachash with unease, for he is not simply an enemy of civilization, he is an enemy of humanity’s place in the world. Unlike tyrants who wish to rule mortals, Nachash believes mortals should never have ruled at all. The oldest prophecies claim that when the final age of mankind begins to crumble, the earth will crack open and ancient creatures long thought lost will emerge once more. From beneath forgotten mountains and buried seas, the Serpent will rise to witness the return of his beloved world.

The following are several interpretations of Nachash.

Nodens of the Silver Hand

God of Hunters, Fishermen, Explorers, Wilderness, Discovery, and the Expansion of Civilization

Nodens of the Silver Hand is the divine patron of explorers, hunters, fishermen, and pioneers; the god who stands at the boundary between the known world and the wild frontier beyond. He is the champion of those who venture into untamed lands, not to destroy nature, but to understand it, master its challenges, and carve out a place where mortal civilization can flourish. Unlike Morvain, who guards the forests and defends the untouched wilderness, or Cernunnos, who honors the ancient laws of the hunt, Nodens represents humanity’s relationship with the wild as a place to be explored, shaped, and made habitable. He believes the wilderness is a magnificent challenge given to mortals. Not an enemy, but a frontier waiting for courage, ingenuity, and perseverance.

Nodens taught mortals how to follow rivers, read the stars, track beasts, navigate oceans, and survive beyond the borders of their homes. Nodens is depicted as a powerful hunter with the appearance of an experienced wanderer. He bears a magnificent silver hand, a divine replacement crafted after he lost his own while battling the dangers of the ancient wilderness.  He is often shown wearing leather, wool, and travel-worn clothing, accompanied by hunting hounds or standing beside a campfire beneath a vast wilderness sky.

Though he loves nature, Nodens does not believe the wild should remain forever untouched. He sees forests, mountains, and oceans as vast realms of possibility. Places where mortals can build, cultivate, and thrive. To him, clearing a forest for a village, crossing a dangerous sea, or taming a harsh landscape is not an act of destruction, but a continuation of humanity’s own journey. However, Nodens is no careless destroyer. 

His followers are rangers, sailors, explorers, pioneers, hunters, fishermen, and settlers who seek new horizons. His shrines are often found at crossroads, harbors, frontier villages, and mountain passes; all places where the unknown begins. His priests preserve maps, record discoveries, guide travelers, and encourage mortals to push beyond the limits of what they know. To Nodens, mortals are not intruders upon the world, they are another force of nature, capable of building as well as destroying. Nodens is close friends with Mithras, and is sometimes seen as the Herald of Civilization while Mithras is it's Guardian after it has already established itself in an area. But before Mithras can come, Nodens must first blaze the trail.

The following is an interpretation of Nodens.

Nerthuz, the Sky-Mother

Goddess of Prophecy, Astrology, Portents, Magic, the Night Sky, and the Hidden Patterns of Fate

Nerthuz, the Sky-Mother, is the radiant goddess who watches over the heavens and the mysteries written among the stars. She is the divine interpreter of omens, the keeper of celestial secrets, and the motherly presence who gazes down upon the world from the endless expanse above. Where other gods command the forces of nature or rule over mortal affairs, Nerthuz reveals the hidden threads that connect all things: the patterns, signs, and possibilities woven into the fabric of existence.

Nerthuz existed before the first kingdoms and was among the first beings to understand the language of the cosmos. When the stars first appeared in the heavens, she learned their movements and discovered that the universe itself carried messages. The passage of planets, the appearance of comets, the arrangement of constellations, and even the shifting of shadows all became part of the great celestial script she alone could fully comprehend. Nerthuz is not a goddess who controls fate, but one who perceives it. She does not force the future into being, nor does she reveal every secret she knows. Instead, she offers glimpses, warnings, and guidance to those wise enough to seek her counsel. The future, she teaches, is not a single road but a vast sky filled with countless stars. Some are bright, some hidden, and some are waiting to be discovered.

Nerthuz is depicted as a breathtakingly beautiful goddess with an ethereal and otherworldly presence. Her form is often draped in flowing robes that resemble the night sky, covered with shimmering stars and patterns of constellations. Her symbols include celestial globes, crescent moons, crystal spheres, star charts, and enchanted mirrors said to reveal possible futures. Her sacred places are observatories, ancient towers, hidden sanctuaries, and magical sites where the veil between the mortal world and the heavens grows thin.

Nerthuz’s followers are astrologers, seers, wizards, scholars, and those who seek knowledge beyond ordinary understanding. Her priests study the movements of the heavens, interpret dreams, read omens, and preserve ancient magical traditions. They believe that magic itself is a reflection of the universe’s hidden order, a force that can be understood by those willing to look beyond what is immediately visible.

Despite her beauty and grace, Nerthuz is a mysterious and distant goddess. She does not offer easy answers, and many who seek her wisdom find that the truth she reveals is difficult to accept. Some prophecies bring hope; others bring warnings of disasters that cannot be avoided. She teaches that knowledge is a gift, but also a burden. Among the gods, Nerthuz is respected as one of the greatest sources of wisdom and magical understanding. Even powerful deities seek her counsel when faced with mysteries beyond their comprehension. Yet some fear her, for she has seen the rise and fall of countless ages and knows secrets that even the gods would rather remain hidden.

The following is an interpretation of Nerthuz.

Orcus, Lord of Undeath

Demon God of the Undead, Necromancy, Death, and Hatred of Life

Orcus, the Lord of Undeath, is the bloated and monstrous demon god who embodies the corruption of death and the unholy mockery of life. He is the enemy of all living things, a creature of endless hunger and spite whose greatest desire is to extinguish the natural cycle of birth and death, replacing it with an eternal kingdom of decay where all souls exist only as his servants. Unlike gods who preside over the peaceful passage into the afterlife, Orcus is a perversion of death itself. He does not guide the dead onward, he chains them to the mortal world. He does not honor the fallen, he desecrates them. To Orcus, life is a temporary insult, and undeath is the final state of existence: a world where nothing grows, nothing changes, and nothing can escape his dominion. While other primordial fiends and dark entities sought conquest, destruction, or corruption, Orcus became obsessed with the ultimate denial of creation: the defeat of death itself. He sought to transform every living creature into an undead servant, believing that a silent universe of corpses would be the perfect expression of his victory.

Orcus is depicted as a gigantic, grotesque demon with a swollen, corpse-like body and the head of a monstrous ram or ancient beast. His flesh is bloated and decayed, his enormous form covered in patches of rotting hide, and his eyes burn with a cruel, hateful intelligence. Great wings extend from his back, and his massive hands end in terrible claws capable of tearing through flesh and bone. He carries the legendary skull-topped mace Wand of Orcus, a weapon that spreads death and corruption with every strike.

Where Orcus walks, life withers. Plants blacken, animals flee, and the dead stir beneath the earth. His presence is a plague upon the natural order, for he brings not simply death, but the refusal to accept it. His greatest creations are undead monstrosities, raised not from necessity or sorrow, but from his desire to mock the living. His followers are necromancers, death cultists, liches, and those who seek power beyond mortal limits. They worship him through forbidden rituals, grave desecration, and the creation of undead armies. His temples are found in ruined crypts, haunted catacombs, and places where countless lives were lost. His priests teach that flesh is weakness, mortality is a flaw, and undeath is the only true perfection.

Among the gods and fiends, Orcus is feared as one of the greatest enemies of life itself. Even other evil powers distrust him, for Orcus does not merely seek to rule, he seeks to make all things like himself. Where tyrants desire subjects and conquerors desire kingdoms, Orcus desires a universe of corpses. Yet beneath his monstrous appearance lies a terrible cunning. Orcus understands mortal desires: fear of death, fear of loss, and the longing to escape the inevitable. He offers immortality to those desperate enough to accept the price, transforming ambition and grief into instruments of his eternal hatred.

If Orcus ever fully succeeds in his ambitions, the world will become a silent realm of endless night; a kingdom where no heart beats, no seed grows, and no living voice remains.

Below are several interpretations of Orcus.

Orridathis, the Watcher from Beyond

Primordial Entity of the Outer Void, Cosmic Hunger, Consumption, and the End of All Things

Orridathis, the Watcher from Beyond, is not a goddess, titan, demon, or spirit. Like Kholgorath, she is an ancient and alien being from beyond the boundaries of creation itself, an entity that existed before the first stars burned and before the laws of reality were given form. She is not a part of the universe, but something that looks upon the universe from the outside, waiting patiently for the moment when she can finally consume what lies within. Where Kholgorath sees creation as a temporary inconvenience destined to fade, Orridathis sees it as a feast waiting to be devoured. When creation first emerged, she did not marvel at its beauty or resent its existence. She recognized only one thing: it was alive, and therefore, it could be consumed.

To Orridathis, stars are not wonders, worlds are not sacred, and souls are not precious. They are merely fragments of a vast banquet slowly being prepared. She does not seek to conquer creation or reshape it in her image. She seeks to devour it completely, to consume matter, magic, time, thought, and eventually even the memories of what once existed.

Orridathis is depicted as a vast and otherworldly feminine presence whose true form cannot be fully understood by mortal minds. Some visions describe her as a beautiful but unsettling woman of impossible elegance, with skin like polished obsidian, eyes like empty galaxies, and a veil of cosmic darkness flowing behind her like wings. Others reveal the monstrous truth beneath that illusion: an enormous eldritch being with countless limbs, a starless body, and a vast, endless maw hidden within her form.

Unlike the gods who rule domains within creation, Orridathis has no realm, no throne, and no followers among the natural order of things. She exists beyond the borders of reality, watching through cracks in space and time. Those who glimpse her presence often experience visions of impossible worlds being swallowed into darkness, stars collapsing into silence, and entire civilizations disappearing as though they had never existed. Her rare followers are not worshipers in the traditional sense. They are those who have encountered her whispers and come to believe that resistance is meaningless. Some seek to hasten the end, hoping to be rewarded by surviving beyond the final collapse. Others simply worship her out of terror, believing that honoring the coming devourer may spare them from being among the first consumed.

The other gods fear Orridathis more than almost any enemy because she does not desire what they desire. She cannot be tempted by power, glory, worship, or dominion. Such things are meaningless to a being that views entire universes as nourishment. Ancient prophecies claim that one day, when the stars are right and the boundaries between creation and the outer darkness weaken, Orridathis will finally step through. She will not be heralded by armies, nor conquest, but merely with mindless, animalistic hunger.

Below is an interpretation of Orridathis.