"The gods are great, but only a fool would trust them with their lives!"
Some of the major Gods of Light, including Rhya, the goddess of agriculture and fertility, Taal the god of nature and beasts, Morr, the god of the dead, Verena, the goddess of knowledge and justice and Ulric, the god of war, winter and wolves.
The Old World Pantheon is the name given to a collection of deities known to and worshipped by the realms of Mankind on the Old World continent of the mortal world.[1e]
Gods of Light[]
Tied together by means of blood relation within two distinct divine families, the first and more ancient sub-pantheon of the Old World Pantheon is known as the "Old Gods," also called the "Elder Gods" or "Northern Gods," whose worship is predominant in the harsh northern lands of the Old World, such as the Empire of Man and the Tzardom of Kislev.[1e]
The second and younger sub-pantheon is known as the "Classical Gods," also called the "Southern Gods," whose worship is centred within the less-hostile, more civilised southern realms of the Old World, including the fractious lands of Tilea and Estalia.[1e] Within the Empire, the followers of the Old Gods regard only them as the true deities of the Empire, while the Classical Gods are considered more sophisticated by their devotees.[5a]
The gods of the Old World are often worshipped together as a single pantheon of which the members are sometime referred to as the Gods of Light. Each of these deities are said to embody a defining aspect of Mankind and/or the physical world, such as war, knowledge, peace, fertility and death. Each god in the pantheon is also tied together by their blood relations, with the gods Taal and Morr being the patriarch of their respective divine families.[1e][9a]
It is said that wizards who seek power from the Gods of Light or the Gods of Law generate rivals who seek power from the opposing forces of Death and Chaos.[14a]
Even the Elves sometimes refer to their most benign deities, the Cadai, as the "Gods of Light,"[15a] and are not surprised when some brave Human scholars theorise that the Elven Pantheon and the Old World Pantheon share a common origin.[7a]
Patron Gods[]
Another sub-grouping of gods that are highly venerated in the Old World but are exclusive to certain regions or certain kingdoms are the Patron Gods. These deities are unique in that they are not related to either the Old Gods nor the Classical Gods by familial ties, but are nonetheless acknowledged as being a part of the Old World Pantheon as a whole. [1e]
The Patron Gods include formerly mortal ascended deities such as Sigmar, the patron god of the Empire, or the Lady of the Lake, the patron goddess of Bretonnia whose true origin as Lileath, the Elven goddess of the moon, dreams and fortune, was long unknown to her Human followers until the End Times.[1e]
Kislevite Gods[]
Kislev also has a pantheon of gods different from all the other nations of the Old World, but only a few of these entities are recognised as true deities rather than products of simple superstition. Many Kislevite deities are excluded from formal inclusion in the Old World Pantheon by scholars, with the possible exception of the bear god Ursun.[3a]
In addition to the major gods of the Old World there is also a large number of more minor deities. These "minor gods" are those that have few worshippers in comparison to the better known deities such as Sigmar or Taal. There are hundreds, if not thousands of minor gods in the Empire, some with as few as a few dozen worshippers. In addition, some Old Worlders venerate non-Human deities, borrowing gods from the Dwarfs, Elves, and even the Halflings, including them in their prayers and ceremonies. The following entries include a sample of many of the minor gods worshipped in the Old World.[1a]
Myths and Legends[]
Ulric and the Making of the World[]
This myth about Ulric is taken from an ancient collection of legends which is now a religious relic kept in the Temple of Ulric in the city of Middenheim. The book is titled "Lord Ulric and the Making of the World" and neither the author nor collator is known.[9a]
There was a time, when the mortal world was young and man had just come forth onto the earth, that there was no taint of Chaos upon the land. Father Taal and Mother Rhya tended the things of the land, and their son Manann was master of the things of the sea. Morr was king of the darkness, and Verena the queen of the light, and so all was in balance. In the high summers, Lord Ulric, brother of Taal and prince of the snow and ice, had no realm to tend to, so he had taken to walking the earth and the sky and the stars to seek adventure. He travelled far beyond the ken of man or god, fought and slew the greater monsters and Dragons and gave names to all the wonders that he found.[9a]
With him in many of these journeys came his cousin, Prince Ranald the Trickster, and many are the tales told of these two friends and their brave deeds. But all journeys must end, and this is the tale of their last journey together. Ulric and Ranald had journeyed far to the north, farther than any god or man had ever gone before, into the frozen wastes, where the air is so cold it freezes like the water and the earth shatters under your feet like the first film of ice on the lake, and no man nor Dwarf can survive.[9a]
And here, at the very top of the world, Ulric and Ranald came upon a crack in the sky. Looking through it, they saw a great horror: it led to the Realm of Chaos. There stood all the beasts and Daemons and Gods of Chaos, a great and terrible horde, straining to widen the crack and hungry for conquest of this new world. Ulric knew that should this army breach the gate, all of this world would be forever destroyed. He called to his brother Ranald to immediately run to tell Father Taal and King Morr of what they had seen, so they might make ready their armies to drive back this horde. Ulric said he would stand at the crack and hold it closed as long as he could. Ranald nodded to his cousin, and ran. But the Trickster was a coward, and when he had seen the Chaos hordes he had known only fear. Instead of running to tell his lords and family what had happened, he instead ran and hid. He ran far, far away, to the burning deserts in the south, and buried himself deep under the sand there.[9a]
Ulric waited at the crack, holding it closed with all his might, though on the other side a million Daemons clawed and grabbed at it, desperate to tear it further and gain their entry. Ulric stood and held the gate for a thousand years and one, his muscles ever-straining with the effort, waiting for his cousin to return. But Ranald never returned. Enraged at his cousin's cowardice, Ulric swore never to speak to his cousin again, nor ever to suffer a trickster to travel with him, for all that trusted in tricks were nought but cowards, weaklings and deceivers.[9a]
Finally, Ulric's strength began to wane, and he knew his weakling cousin had not delivered the message. He knew too, that he could not hold the gate closed much longer. So despite his fears, he was forced to let go and bear the terrible news to his family himself. But when he arrived to do so, he found himself ignored and discounted. His brother Taal did not believe that there could be another world beyond his, and Manann had no care for things of the land. Great King Morr believed Ulric's story, but did not see a great danger -- certainly it was nothing Ulric himself could not handle.[9a]
Ulric despaired, knowing that even now the Chaos hordes must be pouring into their world, led by their own great and hideous gods, ready to destroy all they had made. Finally, he appealed to Queen Verena, and in her wisdom, she saw that the danger was indeed very real and very great, and that these fiends would destroy all of the Beauty and Reason she had created. She swore that even if her husband would not act, she would, and she took up her husband's sword and rode out to battle with brave Lord Ulric.[9a]
And to this day, Verena still carries that sword, as a reminder to Morr and to all her subjects that wisdom must be joined with action, lest all wisdom be lost. Shamed into action by his queen, Morr rallied all the gods behind him, and all their loyal followers, and rode out to meet the Chaos Gods and their daemonic armies. Morr was no great warrior, and Ulric had proven his wisdom in seeing the danger, so Morr gave over to Ulric command of all the gods' forces, and Ulric thence became the god of battle. Wearing his great helm and swinging his massive warhammer, Ulric led the gods forth to meet their enemy.[9a]
And where the hoof beats of their horses fell, they cut a trail of mud far deep into the earth, and the sea rushed in to fill it up, and became the great River Reik. All the while, the Chaos Daemons ran on their claws of fire and blood, so sharp that they bit into the very land itself, which is why the coast of Norsca is now so ragged and torn. The two forces met with uncontained fury. The Chaos force was uncountable in number, unending in hunger, unimaginable in savagery. Yet Ulric's courage never faltered. His fury would not abate, and his strength did never waver. He smashed the Chaos ranks with his great hammer, breaking every charge that came.[9a]
Behind him rode King Morr, bringing the darkness of death, and Queen Verena with her sword of light, and Father Taal with the fury of the lion, and Mother Rhya with the strength of the mother bear, and Manaan brought the sea forth into the field, dragging thousands of Daemons down into his realm where he could choke the life out of them. Still the Daemons and Chaos monsters came on, still the Gods of Light fought back. The battle raged for a thousand years, until at last all the armies of Chaos were routed, and the Chaos Gods themselves were smashed to pieces beneath Ulric's great hammer. But the victory was not without cost. Thousands of the gods' servants lay dead. Lesser gods and heralds had been lost forever from the world.[9a]
The Dragons that had fought with the gods had seen most of their number fall. And worst of all, King Morr himself was gravely wounded. He lived, but was forced to find succour in the Dark Lands and was never more seen on this earth. Seeing all this suffering and loss, Queen Verena fell to her knees and cried. And her tears flowed over the battlefield, and from them came the goddess Shallya, bringing her mercy and healing to the injured and despairing. Exhausted and grief-stricken, Ulric and his fellow gods left the battlefield, carrying all their dead home to give them proper burial.[9a]
But here was their great mistake. For the bodies of the Chaos hordes still lay on the battlefield, a vast carpet of carnage. And on top of it all lay the hideous bodies of the Chaos Gods themselves. As they lay there rotting, there came what always must come to battlefields: a plague of rats to feast upon the dead. And with such a feast, the rats came in their thousands, then in their millions. They fed on the beasts of Chaos and the Daemons and the monsters. So great was the frenzy of feasting that the rats grew gigantic with the food, and fought savagely with each other for the greatest spoils. Finally, the largest and strongest rats fell upon the Chaos Gods themselves, and as they did they gained something of their nature. They grew even more in size, and in cunning and in brutality, into things that were a mockery of man himself.[9a]
And so it was, when Ulric returned to the battlefield, he saw the rats feasting, and realised his great mistake. In their great consumption the rats had taken on a remnant of those foul gods' power, and become like them: a new race, like Men and the Dwarfs, only made from pure Chaos. They, like all things of Chaos, would work forever to destroy Humanity and all it had built, and to one day bring about the victory the Chaos Gods had been denied. Ulric saw too that the Daemon troops that had been routed had returned and carried away what was not eaten, and then had fled to the darkest corners of the world. They, too, these Beastmen, would watch and wait for their chance to reclaim the world from Men and Dwarfs.[9a]
Ulric had saved the earth, but he had doomed the mortals who lived there to ever face the threat of a similar destruction. Although it was too late, Ulric struck his hammer hard on the stony ground and brought forth a great flame with it. And with that flame he burnt all that foul offal that remained to ashes. Then he charged his brother Manann to drown the whole field with water so it could never more taint the land. The waters of the ocean poured over the field, and it became the Sea of Chaos.[9a]
Then Ulric turned to the fate of Men. He taught them how to mould steel to make warhammers and swords and axes, and taught them how to wield them. He taught them how to fight, and to hunt, and to kill. And lastly he taught them how to make fire and how to use it. All of this was to prepare them for their endless battle with the minions of Chaos. He taught them well, and gave them courage. He took charge over Mankind, and promised he would ever watch over them, for now their lives would know only battle.[9a]
In return, the people of Ulric pledged to never suffer a Chaos-thing to live while they had breath in their bodies, and to ensure that every beast of Chaos that fell would be burned to ash, cleansed from this world by Ulric's Holy Fire. Thus, the taint of Chaos would never spread again. Ulric's mistake must never be repeated, and creatures like the Skaven must never again be born unto this world. And so we keep our pact forevermore. We strike without fear against the ratmen, and the Beastmen, and all the creatures of Chaos, and raise the cleansing flame of Ulric to all the heavens above.[9a]
Major Old World Gods[]
Old Gods[]
- Rhya - Goddess of agriculture, nature and fertility and the wife of Taal. Known as Ishea in Tilea and Estalia.[1]
- Taal - God of the wilds, beasts and nature and the husband of Rhya. Known as Karnos in Tilea and Estalia.[1]
Classical Gods[]
- Khaine - God of murder and patron of assassins, is the brother of Morr. (Tilean have no equivalent for Ulric at all although some brave theists have dared to draw comparisons between him and Khaine).[1]
Patron Gods[]
- Lady of the Lake - Goddess of purity and chivalry, patron god of Bretonnia.[1]
- Lucan and Luccina - The founder gods of the city-state of Luccini in Tilea.[8a]
- Sigmar - God of Mankind and civilisation, the founder and patron god of the Empire, considered to have ascended to godhood.[1]
Minor Gods[]
A[]
- Ahalt - God of Hunting, Fertility, and Sacrifice (Wissenland)[1b]
- Alluminas - God of Light, member of the pantheon of the Gods of Law
- Altaver - God of the River Aver (Averland)[1b]
- Astasis (Arianka) - Member of the pantheon of the Gods of Law, representing purity of form.
- Artho the Unmoving - God of Tradition (Middenland)[1a]
B[]
- Bögenauer - God of Bögenhafen and the River Bögen (Reikland)[1b][5a]
- Borchband the Voice - God of Rhetoric and Civil Agitators (Reikland)[1a][5a]
- Bylorak - God of Bylorhof Marsh (Stirland)[1b]
C[]
D[]
- Daora - Member of the pantheon of the Gods of Law, divine embodiment of pure and total knowledge.
- Dark Helgis - Matron of Widows (Middenland)[1a]
E[]
F[]
G[]
- Gadd - God of the Worlds Edge Mountains (Stirland)[1b]
- Gargali - God of the Hidden Ore (Wissenland)[1c]
- Gazul - Dwarf God and Protector of the Dead (Eastern Empire of Man)[1b]
- Grandfather Reik - God of the River Reik (Reikland)[1b][5a]
- Grungni - Dwarf God of Mines and Artisans (Stirland), is also venerated as il Grugnio, in the Tilean city-state of Tobaro.[1b]
- Gunndred - God of Rustling and Blackmail (Averland) (Outlawed), is also venerated as Sconduino, in the north of Tilea, near The Vaults.[1b]
H[]
- Haendryk - God of Merchants (The Wasteland)[1b]
- Haleth - Goddess of Fertility (Middenland)[1b]
- Haleth - Lady of the Hunt (Northern Empire of Man)[1b]
- Halétha - Protector Goddess of the Hedgefolk (Forest of Shadows)[4a]
I[]
- Ishnernos - Earth Spirit (Talabecland)[1b]
J[]
- Jack O' the Sea - Minor deity on the island of Sartosa, is considered patron of all pirates and protector of his city of the same name.[8]
K[]
- Karnos - God of Beasts (Tilea, Talabecland)[1b]
- Khaine - God of Murder (Outlawed).[1d] Sometimes considered one of the Classical Gods.[5a]
- Khirreth - God of the Oberstein Wood (Wissenland)[1b]
- Koppalt - God of the Koppens (Talabecland)[1b]
- Ktharta - Goddess of Lake Delb (Middenland)[1b]
L[]
- Leopard of Luccini - The Leopard of Luccini is a legendary creature in the service of the first rulers of the city-state of Luccini, Lucan and Luccina. It is said that he was their protector and offered them protection in the great cave that still houses the Acropolis today in Luccini.[8a]
M[]
- Manas - God of Tides, respected by ship pilots and navigators who implore the god to guide their way.[12a]
- Mathlann - Elven God of the Sea (Laurelorn Forest)[1b]
- Mermedus - God of the Sea of Claws (Norsca)[1b]
- Millavog - God of Dancing (Wissenland)[1b]
- Mittlmund - Guardian of Restless Spirits (Wissenland)[1b]
N[]
- Narlog the Inevitable - God of Inevitability (Ostland)[1c]
O[]
- O Prospero - God of Merchants (Estalia)[1b]
- Oboroch - God of the Middle Mountains (Hochland)[1b]
P[]
Q[]
- Quinsberry - Halfling God of Ancestry (Mootland)[1b]
R[]
- Renbaeth the Shrewd - Patron God of Lawyers (Talabecland)[1c]
- Rudric - God of Glory (Middenland)[1b]
S[]
- Sarriel - Elven God of Dreams (Laurelorn Forest)[1b]
- Scripsisti - God of scribes and calligraphers, she is worshipped by several minor sects of Verena as one of her aspects, especially in Tilea and Talabecland.[1b]
- Shadow of Chill Hagh - People from Vedenza worship this mysterious figure.[6a]
- Shadreth - God of Tracking (Talabecland)[1b]
- Snow King - God of Snow (Northern Empire of Man)[1b]
- Söll - God of the Sun (Wissenland)[1b]
- Solkan - God of Vengeance and the Sun (Tilea, Estalia, Marienburg, and the Empire)). Member of the pantheon of the Gods of Law.
T[]
- Talos - Described as "eternal enemy of the Dwarfs" (Stirland)[10a] This deity's worship is outlawed.[10a]
- Toar - God of Lightning (Talabecland)[1b]
- Torothal - Elven God of Rain and Rivers (Laurelorn Forest)[1b]
U[]
- Uutann - God of Oak Trees (Middenland)[1b]
V[]
W[]
- Wendred - God of Duty and Service (Wissenland)[1c]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation (RPG)
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Realm of the Ice Queen (RPG)
- 3a: pp. 35-38
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Shades of Empire (RPG)
- 5: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 6: Monstrous Arcanum
- 6a: pg. 7
- 7:Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 7a: pg. 45
- 8: Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition)
- 8a: pg. 44
- 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Children of the Horned Rat - A Guide to Skaven (RPG)
- 9a: pp. 24-25
- 10: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 10a: pg. 33
- 11: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Salzenmund - City of Salt and Silver (RPG)
- 11a: pg. 95
- 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Sea of Claws (RPG)
- 12a: pg. 80
- 13: Ancient Blood (Novel) by Robert Earl
- 13a: Ch. 14
- 14: Zaragoz (Novel) by Brian Craig
- 14a: Epilogue
- 15: The Sundering (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 15a: Ch. 6