Perun

Perun is the god of storms, thunder, and the raw, unshaped power of the sky. He is revered, feared, and cursed in equal measure. A force of divine temper that blesses crops with rain one day and lays waste to armies with lightning the next. As the living storm, Perun embodies divine unpredictability. To appease him is to delay ruin, and to praise him is to accept the world as wild and untamed. It is said that from his blood, spilt in labour and combat, sprang the first giants, children of cloud, stone, and storms who echo their father’s fury to this day.

Appearance

Perun appears as a massive, wild-eyed figure wreathed in cloud and lightning, his skin etched with jagged bolts and his beard crackling. His voice is thunder and his breath the wind that bends forests and snaps masts. He carries a mighty warhammer, known in myth as Skycleaver, which he hurls across the heavens to break mountains and call the rains. In some depictions, his eyes burn with the light of a coming tempest, impossible to meet without flinching.

Dogma

Perun does not teach in words, he teaches in weather. His doctrine is felt rather than read, and those who serve him understand that nature does not ask permission. He values strength, resilience, and honesty in the face of disaster. Storms may destroy, but they also cleanse and awaken. His faithful believe that those who stand against the wind without bending are worthy of his respect, while those who kneel too easily will be swept away. Tribute and respect must be shown to Perun before journeys, harvests, and battles. To ignore him is to dare the sky itself.

Worship

Perun is worshipped by travelers, farmers, sailors, warriors, and above all, by the scattered giantkind. His shrines are built high on cliff edges or carved into mountaintops, where storms are strongest and closest to the divine. Sacrifices of smoke, sound, and steel are made in his name, bonfires, drums, and thunderous chants that rise with the wind. His clergy, sometimes known as Stormbearers, are oracles and war-priests who read omens in lightning and speak prophecies carried on thunder. Many are wanderers themselves, called to spread Perun’s warning and his wrath wherever the skies grow dark.   His most sacred time is The Tempest Rite, held at the first great storm of summer. Worshippers gather on high ground to dance, shout, and raise offerings into the sky, hoping their courage and noise will please Perun and soften the fury to come.

Relations

The Stormfather shares little patience with gods of stillness or silence. He respects raw strength, however it manifests, and holds grudging respect for deities like Ugur, whose martial force mirrors his own in different form. He clashes with Anwhe, who tries to shape what cannot be shaped, and ignores Velkareth entirely, believing secrets are for those too afraid to shout their truth to the sky. He is rumored to have once loved Myrtheria, in the early days when wind first kissed wave, but their passion created storms so fierce they had to part or drown the world. Still, when wind and sea clash in storm, sailors say the old gods remember.