The Emissaries

— The Relics of Errus by Gordon Greenhill

The Errusian Pantheon

The Celestial Emissaries

Merris Sign

Merris

The sun, known as Echinda in Mulek, she is the matriarchal goddess of hearth, harvest, home, peace, childbearing, health, and hospitality. She stands at the center nurturing and giving life to all things. It is she who formed all the worlds with her consort Vercandrus, and they are her children. She is symbolized by the mother & child, the bear, the sunrise, and the growing tree.

Berducca Sign

Berducca

Eldest daughter of Merris and Vercandrus, she is goddess of old age, diligence, prosperity, learning, and commerce. All the gnomi (like the dwarf, the giant, and the troll) are in her care, and so too all things in and under the earth. She is symbolized by the horned plowing ox, the rooting badger (and infrequently the ant), and the cut diamond.

Merris Sign

Therra

Goddess of fortune, adventure, good cheer, and the sea. The patron of sailors, all the undine (like the merfolk and the sea serpent) and all life in the sea are under care. She is symbolized by the leaping fish and the goblet of cheer.

Avonia Sign

Avonia

Fairest of the children of Merris and Vercandrus, she is the goddess of the air, beauty, love, music, the arts, youth, and innocence. The sylphi (like the fairy, the imp, and the phoenix) are entrusted to her. She is symbolized by the hawk in flight and the lyre.

Errus Sign

Errus

The elder brother is the god of justice, honor, generosity, royalty, nobility, and law. He is symbolized by the panther and the crown. His is the surface of the world, the common meeting place of all creatures.

Lemerrus Sign

Lemerrus

The lesser brother, god of fire, labor, industry, cunning, resourcefulness, the poor. His are all the vulcani, and is associated with the serpent and the smithy’s hammer, the woodcutter’s ax, or the miner’s pick.

Vercandrus sign

Vercandrus

Consort of Merris, he is god of war, power, protection, provision, and guidance. His planetary referent, a huge gas giant, forms the outer limits of the Merrisian system, and looms large in Errus’ sky seasonally. He stands watch at the edge of the worlds Long ago attracted to Merris and captured by her beauty before any other planets were formed, the material for the planets was all drawn from him toward the sun, like seed, so that she could form them into worlds. He is symbolized by the tusked boar, the spear, and the naked sword.

The Old Forgotten One

Thes

Thes

The one God, thought by some to be the only true God, by others a competing god beside the Emissaries, by yet others a metaphor for the combined force of the Emissaries. Pure fiction or the unmoved mover that moves all else in the universe. Marginalized and out of fashion, Thes stands in the background as the great question mark.

In our world, science and mythology are mortal enemies. But what if a world existed where they were the same thing?