Eusdria
by Marco Dalmonte English translation by Gary DaviesViuden (Odin) - Sky, winds, storms, authority, knowledge
Donar (Thor) - War, honour, courage
Fredar (Frey) - Passion and strategy in battle, virility, loyalty
Fredara (Freyja) - Women warriors, fertility, abundance, love, beauty
Guntyr (Guidarezzo) - Arts, music and song, bards
Tiuz (Ilsundal) - Wisdom, law, tradition, elves
Eirys (Eiryndul) - Sylvan races, nature, magic
Kagyar - Crafts, metallurgy, dwarves
Notes:
1. For the Eusdrian mythology Viuden is considered the lord of the skies and land, omniscient demiurge who gave origin to life and to the mortals. He created divine offspring by joining with the first mortal women (that the Eusdrians imagined as nobles belonging to the lineage that today rule the kingdom, to legitimise their authority over the people), and thanks to his children the humans were able to rise from barbarism and to drive away their enemies. Unfortunately however, two of his children, Nyt and Lokar, envious of his paternal power sought to usurp him and treacherously attacked him. They blinded Viuden in one eye, but thanks to the intervention of his children the lord of the skies dislodged and cursed the two rebels. Later on, Donar and Fredar urged their descendents to hunt down the renegades, and this brought (according to the legends) the ancestors of the Eusdrians to migrate to the Savage Coast. Here they discovered that Nyt and Lokar had been united and had created the beastmen, the goblinoids, that threatened humans, elves and dwarves. The Immortals intervened once more in order to save Tiuz and Eirys, sovereigns of the elves, from the machinations of Lokar and his son Wogar, and in exchange for their help the elves accorded hospitality to the humans in their land, creating the nation of Eusdria. Later on, they agreed an alliance with the lord of the dwarves, Kagyar, who had supplied the weapons in order to dislodge the humanoids from the land of Eusdria. Therefore elves and humans, reunited under the direction of Viuden, now fight in order to bring order to the wild lands of the Coast, and trying to destroy the evil children of Lokar and Nyt everywhere they lurk (understood as humanoids and enemies of the nation broadly speaking). This mythology has therefore forged a multiracial society (in Eusdria are found elves, dwarves, humans and even half-elves, a race created by the same Immortals) dedicated to the cult of heroism, of bravery in battle and of loyalty to the lineage and to the nation, which has brought about the formation of the modern feudal Eusdria. The Eusdrians are indeed a fierce and daring people, who believe that the best way to die is on the field of battle, a safe way for ascending to paradise and joining the Immortals. This belief is a heritage of the ancient cult that it followed when they still led a semi-nomad existence in the region to the north of the Yazak Steppes. Following the migration in the actual land of Eusdria and to the fusion with the elven culture located there, their impetuousness has been mitigated by the calm and love for order of the elves, which have contributed to transform the savage aggressiveness of the barbarians into ordinary bravery and noble firmness of spirit typical of the actual Eusdrian population.
2. Eusdria doesn’t have a unified church, but has many religious and military orders that belong to the various nobles and serve one of the Immortal protectors of the many provinces of the kingdom. These cavalry orders initially began as groups of honourbound humans loyal to a governor, and later on many of them also embraced the faith in the Immortals, thus becoming sanctified heroes. The Eusdrians have indeed learnt to use their natural aggressiveness and love for physical confrontation in order to defend their own belief and gain glory and power for their nation. The Eusdrian cavalry includes paladins and defenders, as well as fighters, rangers, fighting clerics and even seamen. The most famous cavalry orders are as follows: Order of the Immortals (admit consecrated faithful to an Immortal), Cavalry of Eusdria (only fighters and paladins), Company of the Wolf (only rangers), Order of the Unicorn (only elves), Company of the Bear (only dwarves), Cavalry of Niedergard (only skilled cavalrymen) and Fighters of the Sea (only skilled sailors).
3. Ilsundal is worshipped among the Eusdrians as Tiuz, elven king of great wisdom and virtue without his right hand, patron of knowledge and reason, as well as undisputed lord of the elves. Eiryndul instead is Eirys, younger brother of Tiuz, more raffish and wild, student of nature and occult knowledge. It was really to save him from the jaws of the Great Devourer (incarnation of Wogar), that Tiuz sacrificed his right hand.
4. The cult of Kagyar derives from the influence of the dwarves settled in the region together with the elves, still before the arrival of the modern Eusdrians about 500 years ago. Surprised by their metallurgy knowledge and ability, the humans welcomed with enthusiasm the alliance with the dwarves, and from then the cult of Kagyar was integrated into the County of Harstal, as were the dwarves, who also boasted their own military order (the Company of the Bear). For the Eusdrian mythology, Kagyar is the father of the dwarves and the craftsman of the Immortals, those that together with their children forged the weapons for destroying the hosts of Nyt and Lokar.
5. Guidarezzo is worshipped among the Eusdrians as Guntyr, the greatest among the poets and singers, responsible of having established the basis of the actual Eusdrian mythology in his famous composition, The Eusdria of Guntyr (dated about 5 centuries), in which was handed down as the bold warrior Eusdria had founded the nation on divine inspiration, after having overcome a thousand dangers and having sacrificed his own life. Given that the bards are extremely noted in the kingdom, also his clerics possess a vast following among the population and nobility.
6. According to the Eusdrian mythology Lokar (Loki) and Nyt (Hel) are the two rebellious children of Viuden, who attempted to betray and kill him in order to usurp his authority and were driven from the paradise of the just, forced to wander in the world of the dead until the day of the final battle. The first is the lord of deceit and betrayal (his symbol is fire), while the second is the Immortal of death, darkness and reincarnation (associated with ice). From their union was later born the Ravenous Beast, Wogar, lord of predators, ferocity and goblinoids. They are opposed to the divine justice and incite Eusdria’s enemies. Their clerics are persecuted and act in secret, Gathering only once a year in a secret refuge in the mountains south of Trika. As there are insufficient numbers of their followers, Hel and Loki have not been inserted among the Immortals worshipped in Eusdria.
7. The goblins all worship Wogar (patron of war, ferocity and predators) and contrarily to the Eusdrian belief are not allies of the priests of Nyt and Lokar, but act independently of them, on the orders of their own shamans and tribal leaders. They have a secret place of worship, a forest on the north-western Eusdrian border with the Plain of Dreams.