Geilan

Court: Light
Virtue: Wit
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Symbol: A smiling mask split in half—one side comedy, one side tragedy
Colors: Scarlet, gold, and silver
Domains: Trickery, Knowledge, Light, Tempest
Realm: The Eternal Masquerade

Lore and Influence

Gelian, the Lord of Revels and the Many-Faced God, is the divine embodiment of Wit—the virtue of cleverness, humor, and adaptable wisdom. He is laughter in the face of tyranny, the wink behind the mask, the whisper that unmasks hypocrisy. His presence is felt wherever quick tongues and quicker minds defy despair.

To the faithful, Gelian is both liberator and fool, saint and scoundrel. His lessons are simple: never let the proud go unmocked, never let the mighty grow too comfortable, and never let fear steal your laughter. For as long as mortals can laugh, no tyrant truly rules them.

Yet Gelian is not chaos incarnate. His wit is guided by understanding, and his mischief serves wisdom. To him, jest is sacred—a spark that illuminates falsehoods and keeps the world from turning to stone under the weight of solemnity. When he laughs, the heavens shake; when he weeps, even the gods feel shame.

The Eternal Masquerade

Gelian’s celestial realm is The Eternal Masquerade, an infinite carnival where music, color, and laughter ripple through time. The air smells of wine and ozone; masks shimmer like constellations. Every guest wears a face of their choosing—until they stand before the Mirror of the Unmasked, a divine relic that reveals the truth they hide even from themselves.

It is said that no soul may lie in Gelian’s hall. Kings admit their fears, beggars confess their envy, and even the gods remove their crowns to laugh at the absurdity of all things. The Masquerade never ends, for revelation, laughter, and folly are eternal.

Worship and Patronage

Gelian is the patron of bards, rogues, jesters, actors, and free spirits—but also of philosophers, diplomats, and truth-tellers who use words as weapons and laughter as a shield. His temples are rare but unmistakable—hidden taverns, traveling theaters, or city squares where laughter rises like incense.

His worshipers know no strict ritual. A well-told story, a clever prank, or a joke that exposes cruelty is a prayer in itself. To laugh at one’s own misfortune is to honor him; to laugh at injustice is to call him to your side.

Orders of the Laughing God

The Silver Tongues. Orators and bards who wield words to change hearts and topple tyrants. They train rulers in humility and teach that laughter is the voice of freedom.

The Laughing Blades. Rogues and spies who dismantle corruption through cunning, illusion, and humor. They prefer mockery to murder and delight in seeing the mighty humiliated by their own arrogance.

The Unseen Revelers. A secretive sect of performers, mystics, and informants who act as divine agents of irony—exposing hypocrisy and breaking chains with laughter as their weapon.

Common Blessed Items

Mask of Many Faces. A gleaming half-mask that lets its wearer assume the guise of any identity they can convincingly perform.
Coin of Chance. A coin giving one the ability to gain wild fortune, or some comedically ridiculous affectation of the Aethara’s choosing.
Cup of Endless Revels. A golden chalice that fills with whatever drink most fits the mood of the moment, shared among friends as a sacred act.

Doctrine of the Laughing Mask

Gelian teaches that wit is divine rebellion—a spark of creation that burns away deceit, fear, and vanity. Laughter is not frivolous; it is an act of courage.

• Mock the Mighty. Arrogance must always be met with humor; laughter humbles where swords cannot.
• Truth in Jest. A joke can reveal what a sermon conceals. Never fear to speak truth, even wrapped in laughter.
• Live Lightly. The world is absurd—meet it with grace, not despair.
• Adapt and Endure. Like the mask, change your face when needed, but never your heart.
• Never Cruel. Humor without kindness is cruelty, and cruelty is beneath the clever.