Kheron

Kheron is an ancillary deity in the Petrenean Pantheon, dominant throughout the Shimmering Shores. The church of Kheron contends that he is a primordial being responsible for the creation of all things, including the Awakened One, which contradicts teachings of the Awakened One's own church, leading to contention between the two churches. Kheron's domain concerns the accumulation of wisdom through upright conduct and with it the blessings of prosperity.

Kheron is a Lawful Neutral diety, who grants access to the domains of Glory, Law, Nobility, and Sun domains. His symbol is that of a dove in the palm of a hand.

History

Kheron is a primordial diety who is said to have given the gift of civilization and the knowledge of wealth and prosperity to mankind - a familiar claim, with similar having been made by, for example, The Almighty. Kheron also differs from the otherwise coherent histories of the gods by claiming to have proceeded and created the Awakened One. While the writings of the Awakened One make mention of Kheron, they do so in passing, in much the same way they make mention of certain other minor dieties and major outsiders.

Relationships

Kheron has no political cachet with other gods either in his own pantheon or any of the other Pantheons, which is interesting given that he is the patron god of the trade-oriented city of Pashkhara. Instead, he is highly insular, maintaining a golden temple in the Bardo more or less aligned with the location of the city in which his worshippers live.

In point of fact he is actively derided by one of the Awakened One's divine pupils, the war goddess Xia Leng. While the two do not oppose each other to the point of armed conflict, Xia Leng has raised goading Kheron into taking action into an absolute sport, for which she is occasionally chastised by the Awakened One.

Appearance

Kheron is a giant of a man, bearded and richly robed, composed, apparently, entirely of gold.

Realm

Kheron has a realm in the Bardo known as the Gardens of Prosperity, perhaps the most architecturally-developed area of the entire Bardo. The location is pitched as a paradise, and many souls in Bardo have languished their for their full terms only to be reborn anew without having changed their station at all.

Providence

Kheron is the prince of trades, the king of rates. When markets fluctuate or clerks make errors in your favour you can be assured that Kheron had a hand in that manipulation.

Servants

Kheron attracts a wide variety of beings to serve in his gardens at his pleasure. Most are creatures of beauty, be they angel, archon, Azata, devil, or something new and different entirely.

Church

Church of Kheron is as contradictory and haughty as the Golden God himself. The church operates primarily out of temples in the heart of the city of Pashkhara, where their clerics and monastics enforce a strict order of upright living, without stiff drink or loose sex, abhorring crime and forbidding usury, while at the same time tacitly allowing the rule of self-enriching Trade Princes and a city full of the rest of the worse kinds of debauchery and enterprise.

Worshippers

Universal in Pashkhara itself, at least among the natives of the city and especially its wealthy upper class.

Clergy

Kheronite priests wear white robes edged with gold - be that yellow or true golden thread - and bear his symbol, often in brass, gold, or cloissonne. These clerics are drawn from the families of previous clerics for the most part, creating a sort of continuity of heritage within the church. It is very difficult for even devout laypeople not of a clerical bloodline to make their way into the ranks of the church.

Kheronite priests are also known for patrolling the inner city with saps or clubs in order to force the careful dogma of the church, which prescribes everything from diet and posture to styles of fashion and manners of conduct. These priests are empowered to enforce fines or exact corporal punishment in lieu of coin, and this dynamic means that the wealthy get to enjoy the beauty of Kheronite-controlled inner Pashkhara while paying their way past the restrictions that created it.

Temples & Shrines

Kheron's temples and shrines are rare outside of Pashkhara and its immediate environment, though small portable shrines can be found among the belongings of merchants of other cities who have adopted the practice. The teachings of Kheron are becoming increasingly popular among subversive traders from Bastonia, causing conflict as they come home to their own church.

Holy Texts

Kheron did entrust his church with the 87 Ordinaries, a collection of poetry meant to lay out the history and triumphs of the god, which couch his code of conduct in code, more or less, referencing the matters obliquely, requiring specialist understanding to fully parse. It is church doctrine that only priests can correctly interpret these writings.

Church History

There was a time where Kheron's church was more prominent than merely being found in The Pashkharid, and had followers as far afield as High Toor. The decline of the church began with the sack of High Toor by orcs in the service of Buggug Angel-Slayer, and continued with the increasing popularity of the churches of the Awakened One, until only the core of his power around his holiest temple remained.

Holidays

Kheron's priests can find a holy day almost any day of the year by the Rophalin calendar, but the most frequent are Silver Days, where the full moon is visible in the sky at night and religious restrictions are relaxed, permitting festive atmospheres.