Taranis

The Thunderer

Areas of Concern: sacrifice, sailors, storms, strength

Edicts: push yourself to become stronger, be brave in the face of adversity, eat and drink heavily, protect your allies

Anathema: obey someone who is weaker than you, show mercy to your foes, shed blood at sea, lose your temper

Divine Attribute: Strength or Constitution

Religious Symbol: a stone hammer engraved with a lightning bolt

Sacred Animal: Goat

Sacred Colors: Dark Gray, Yellow

Taranis is the storm given form, a god of thunder, wind, and furious rain whose very footfalls are said to shake the heavens. Often regarded as the mightiest of The Nine, he embodies the unpredictable strength of a tempest — at once protector and destroyer. His avatar often manifests as a hulking warrior, scarred and broad-shouldered, with a beard as dark and wild as storm clouds and a voice like rolling thunder. In his hands he wields Wonungar, the lightning-wreathed hammer that houses the bound spirit of a defeated Titan who once wounded him — a battle etched forever into his flesh, and into the memory of the Material Plane’s tilted axis.

His worshippers are as varied as the storms he commands. Be it pirate or fisherfolk, sailors of all stripes pray for his mercy, offering sacrifices to calm the waves and fill their sails with steady winds — knowing their fortunes can rise or fall with a change of the weather. Yet not all who follow him do so in hope of gentleness — berserkers cry his name before battle, channeling his fury into their own frenzied strength, while bards and warrior poets keep tales of his power alive in songs across the Sea of Tears. However they honor him, mortals look to the Thunderer as a source of raw vitality, rousing his faithful to fight, feast, and live without fear.

Feared as much as he is venerated, it is said Taranis hears all prayers yet answers none, for sea and sky obey no mortal voice. His presence is felt in the clouds that brood over Craven, in the great monsoons that batter the Isles each spring, and in the sudden peal of thunder that precedes war. Legends tell of cities leveled by his lightning when their rulers scorned him, yet also of armies carried to victory beneath his shield of rain. To his followers, he is strength in hardship, a shepherd who teaches his flock to stand unyielding in the face of ruin. To His foes, he is inevitability itself — the storm that cannot be reasoned with, only endured until it breaks.

Holy Day of Taranis — The Austral Feast, traditionally held on Floralia, marks the Thunderer’s claim upon the season’s first storms. While the day is bright with garlands and games, his faithful gather along the shore to pour mead and goat’s blood into the waves, beseeching his favor for gentle seas, fertile rains, and safe passage across the waters. Booming songs are raised with drums and horns, and feasting lasts until nightfall, when storm clouds are welcomed as omens of his presence among celebrants.

Taboo Practice — The Sons of Thane are a brutal sect who dwell in the wild Fanes north of Craven, claiming their savagery as service to the Thunderer. They march beneath banners blackened by lightning, selling their strength to whoever is willing to pay. Infamously, they are known to consume the bodies of their slain, for they believe a soul’s innermost strength lingers within its flesh, waiting to be reclaimed. Those who feast the most become towering figures, dreaded as avatars of His merciless power.

Devotee Benefits

Cleric Spells — 1st: Thunderstrike, 3rd: Tempest Cloak, 5th: Lightning Storm

Divine Font: Harm

Divine Sanctification: Unholy (optional)

Divine Skill: Athletics

Domains: Air, Confidence, Lightning, Might
Alternate Domain: Indulgence

Favored Weapon: Maul