There are 27 gods and goddesses worshiped by the people of Khemti. Once they walked the earth, in the distant Mythic Age, but now they are distant rulers who watch from their celestial court above the lands of mortals. Only the pharaohs, whose souls travel to the pole stars when they die, can hope to meet the gods in face to face, though many mortals come close without this distinction by serving the gods all their lives.
Below are given the gods and their divine portfolios, as well as the domains from Divine Power that their followers can take feats from. Other feats for specific Channel Divinity powers granted by individual gods can be found on the feats page. All Khemtian gods are considered Unaligned and so alignment is not a consideration for divine power classes.
The Pesedjet
Of the 27 deities in the Khemtian pantheon, nine stand above the others. They are the strongest and oldest deities and the creators of the Divine Races. Originally, this group numbered eleven and included the god Anubis and the sister-wife of Set, Nephythys, but they were relegated to the ranks of the Lesser Gods below. The circumstances are described in Chapter Two of Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures.
Name | Sacred Animal | Portfolio | Domains |
---|---|---|---|
Geb | Goose | Earth, endurance, farmers/farming, nature, plants, power. | Earth, Strength, Wilderness |
Isis | Cow | Bounty, elves, fertility, knowledge, life, magic (-users). | Arcana, Knowledge, Life |
Nut | Sow | Astronomy, divination, eladrin, fate, knowledge, night, stars. | Fate, Knowledge, Moon |
Osiris | Heron | Afterlife, death, fertility, halflings, life, rebirth. | Death, Life, Undeath |
Ptah | Bull | Artisans, creation and creators, learning, Ptahmenu, science, time. | Civilization, Creation, Earth |
Ra | Hawk | Ambition, fire, dominion, pharaonic might, sun, war. | Destruction, Sun, War |
Set | Turtle/Typhonian Beast | Darkness, deceit, storms, vengeance, vermin, warriors. | Darkness, Poison, Torment |
Shu | Lion | Air, destiny, flying creatures, protection, strength, travelers | Freedom, Storm, Stength |
Tefnut | Lioness | Discovery, healing, life, plants, time, water. | Protection, Sea |
The Lesser Gods
Besides the nine gods of the Pesedjet, there are sixteen lesser gods who command other parts of the mortal realm. These gods are still very powerful but they have existed for nearly as long as the Nine, and in fact two (Anubis and Nephthys) were formerly part of the Pesedjet. Among them they cover all the important aspects of Khemtian culture not claimed by one of the Pesedjet, and most Khemtians find themselves praying to every deity in the pantheon at least once.
Name | Sacred Animal | Portfolio | Domains |
---|---|---|---|
Anubis | Jackal | Anpur, death, doorways, judgment, spirits, vigilance. | Change, Death, Justice |
Apuat | Dog | Battle, bravery, heralds/heraldry, loyalty, messengers | Skill, Strife, War |
Bast | Cat | Beauty, cats, light, performers, pleasure, pride. | Love, Luck, Trickery |
Bes | Lion | Community, happiness, protection, Ptahmenu, survival. | Civilization, Hope, Protection |
Hapi | Baboon | Healing, life, prosperity, rivers and water, the Yor. | Creation, Life, Sea |
Hathor | Cow | Bounty, community, dance, happiness, love, music. | Creation, Hope |
Horus | Falcon | Fate, kings and kingship, light, loyalty, vengeance, warriors. | Fate, Strife, Sun |
Khonsu | Baboon | Cunning, deceit, learning, moon, shapeshifters, time. | Darkness, Moon, Trickery |
Mentu | Bull | Courage, leadership, loyalty, power, war/warriors. | Strength, War |
Nefertem | Lion | Healers, midwives, protection, sunrise, time. | Change, Sun |
Neith | Crocodile | Battle, burial rites, law, mediators, tactics, wisdom. | Death, Fate, Strife |
Nephthys | Scarab beetle | Birth, death, life, protection, women, undeath. | Arcana, Death, Undeath |
Renenutet | Cobra | Childbirth, fate, guards, protection, True Names. | Fate, Life, Protection |
Seker | Hawk | Death, justice, light, living, undeath, vengeance. | Justice, Torment, Undeath |
Serqet | Scorpion | Death, healing, mummification, poison, protection, vermin. | Poison, Protection, Undeath |
Seshat | Ibis | Architecture, history, knowledge, literacy, scribes, writing. | Creation, Knowledge |
Sobek | Crocodile | Ambition, beasts, pharaonic might, water, war. | Destruction, Tyrrany, War |
Thoth | Ibis | Intelligence, kheri-heb and khappiwet, orators, scholars, wisdom. | Arcana, Knowledge |
Worshiping a Pantheon
In Khemti, some priests serve a pantheon of gods rather than one individual. This pantheon can be any related combination of deities and does not have to be the whole Khemtian pantheon itself, although this is an option. Worshipping a pantheon means that a character with a divine class can chose any Channel Divinity feats from the deities included in the pantheon and they count as worshipers of each individual deity in the pantheon for other prerequisites as well. The Domain feats available are an exception and depend only on the pantheon. This is not without demand, however, for worshipers of pantheons must keep to heart the interests of all deities in the pantheon. A worshiper of the entire Khemtian pantheon, for instance, must respect and protect the sacred animals of all Khemtian deities and must address the interests of all the gods as well: saying a prayer over the waters of the Yor in the name of Hapi while also blessing the boat they are traveling on in the name of Ptah the celestial builder. At the DM's discretion, they may receive demands from any patron deity to take action in their name and failing to do so means that they have transgressed against their gods and may lose a portion of their powers.
Below are listed several common pantheons of gods and the domains associated with them.
Pantheon | Deities | Domains |
---|---|---|
Heralds of War | Ra, Apuat, and Mentu. | Destruction, Strength, War |
Keepers of the Canopic Jars | Neith, Nephthys, Seker, and Serqet. | Death, Fate, Protection |
Pesedjet | Nine gods of the Pesedjet. | Civilization, Creation, Justice |
Pharaoic Triad | Ra, Horus, and Sobek. | Civilization, Protection, Tyrrany |
Magic Triad | Isis, Thoth, and Nut. | Arcana, Freedom, Trickery |
Masters of the Night | Nut, Set, and Khonsu. | Darkness, Moon, Wilderness |
Protectors of the City-State | Ptah, Bes, and Seshat. | Civilization, Creation, Hope |
Triad of the Nome | Geb, Osiris, and Hapi. | Earth, Freedom, Life |
Demigods and Combined Gods
In addition to the twenty-seven gods of the pantheon, there are a number of demigods who appear to people in a dream or in a miraculous expression. Typically these demigods influence a small area for a finite amount of time and, once they have righted some problem in the mortal realm, they are rarely heard from again. To the temple hierarchy, these demigods are but minor expressions of the true gods, the twenth-seven described above, who momentarily lessen themselves so as to focus on some specific issue. To play a character who gains divine powers from one of these demigods, use some combination of Domains that match the goals of the demigod, though DMs are encouraged to use an existing god as a basis.
There are also combined gods who seem to be autonomous fusions of complementary gods' spheres of power. An aspect of the air god Shu, for example, might be combined with a compatible aspect of the god Horus, thereby creating a "new" deity - Shu-Horus - for the followers of both aspects to revere as one. In this way, the finite list of twenty-seven deities can lead to a staggering number of deities as far as the masses are concerned which can cover any aspect of life one can imagine. For an ehotep or other divine class, worshiping a combined god is the same as worshiping one of the twenty-seven true gods but they only have access to one domain for each of the gods which combined in the first place (though they do have access to both deities' Channel Divinity powers). Unlike worshiping a pantheon (see above) a priest of a combined god must only worry about the tenants of the combined god and not the individual interests of each god in the union.
Departed Goddesses
There are two departed goddesses, Nekhbet and Wadjet, who no longer participate in the world of mortals. They were very active at the beginning of the world and created the twin kingdoms of the First Races, only to become disappointed with those races when their gifts were squandered. It is said that when the First Races redeem themselves, the departed goddesses will return to Khemti but for the past millenium they have not answered any prayers.
Name | Sacred Animal | Portfolio |
---|---|---|
Nekhbet | Vulture | Wisdom, learning, philosophy, research, ruins. |
Wadjet | Cobra | Guardianship, strongholds, the land, command. |