The Sovereign Host: Variant Sects and Regional Practice
"Ask five Vassals what Pyrine was and you'll get five different answers. 'He was a legendary missionary!' 'It was an old town in Daskara where there was a council!' The truth is that most of us follow the Pyrinean Creed without the faintest idea what that means." — Commonly cited observation among Sovereign scholars
Why So Many Variants?
The Sovereign Host has no centralised institutional authority, no unified church hierarchy, and no body with the power to enforce a singular creed. This is not a weakness — it is the engine of the faith's survival. Without a pope or a doctrinal inquisition, local traditions have been free to develop, merge with indigenous practices, and adapt to circumstances that a distant authority would never have understood. The result is a faith so diverse that a Talenta halfling who honours the Sovereigns as a pantheon of animal spirits and a Karrnathi nobleman who prays to Aureon before issuing a royal decree are both Vassals, even if they would barely recognise each other's practices.
The giants of Xen'drik raised temples to Ouralon Lawbringer tens of thousands of years before humanity embraced Aureon, the Sovereign of Law and Lore. Hunters in Aundair give thanks to Balinor, while orcs in the Shadow Marches invoke Baalkan the Beastlord, and the Talenta halflings tell stories of clever Bally-Nur. Scholars debate the reason for this convergence, but most agree that the more similar a tradition is to an archetypal Sovereign — the closer it hews to the fundamental concept that deity represents — the easier it is to draw divine power from that faith. A culture that invokes a deity of the hunt is more likely to produce clerics and paladins than a culture that worships a giant salmon of the same name, and if the deity's name is similar to "Balinor," the connection to divine magic comes easier still.
Vassal sages assert this proves the objective existence of the Sovereigns. Sceptics counter that it could simply be a numbers game — it is easier to draw power from a shared belief, and belief in the Sovereigns has reached a critical mass that self-reinforces. Neither side can prove the other wrong.
Because of this diversity, Vassal priests are rarely concerned with heresy. Those who follow the Pyrinean Creed may attempt to correct what they see as flawed beliefs, but ultimately, most just smile at the ignorance of the Marcher orc, content in the knowledge that they know the proper names of the Sovereigns. The faith's openness is also reflected in its relationship with the Silver Flame. The Pyrinean Creed asserts that the Sovereigns defeated the overlords at the dawn of time; if the Silver Flame is what keeps the overlords bound, presumably the Sovereigns created it. So there is no inherent conflict — a Vassal will simply shrug and say, "But why do you worship a cage?"
The Pyrinean Creed
The standard tradition of the Five Nations — the one that defines the nine Sovereign names, the Octagram symbol, the division between Nine and Six, and the liturgical calendar — is the Pyrinean Creed. If you follow this creed, you believe in the faith as it is commonly presented. You recognise all of the Sovereigns and the Six, even if you feel that one Sovereign in particular is especially influential in your life. Most Vassals in Khorvaire follow this tradition, and it is the baseline against which all other variants are compared.
The name comes from the Sarlonan nation of Pyrine, where these beliefs were codified thousands of years ago before being carried to Khorvaire by human settlers — many of them renegades, outlaws, and refugees following Lhazaar and later waves of migration. Pyrine was a land of warm plains and forests with an almost supernaturally calming atmosphere; something about standing in a Pyrinean meadow inspired a sense that all was right in the world. Its people were philosophical and deeply devout, and they standardised what had been a loose collection of traditions into a coherent theological system: the specific names, the Octagram, the familial relationships between the deities, the division of Nine and Six.
Pyrine itself was assimilated by the Empire of Riedra over a thousand years ago, and its people no longer worship the Sovereign Host. The temples were torn down and the Sovereigns forgotten. Their legacy lives on only in Khorvaire, carried across an ocean by people who had often been cast out of their homeland. Most Vassals in the Five Nations have heard the term "Pyrinean Creed" without having any clear idea that Pyrine was an actual nation, let alone a lost one.
The Pyrinean Question
The Creed's name implies that the Sovereign faith originated in Pyrine, but this framing requires some caution. The gods invoked as Aureon, Balinor, and Dol Arrah are almost certainly the same beings worshipped under different names by cultures considerably older than any human civilisation. The giants of Xen'drik worshipped Ouralon, Banor, and Rowa — gods at least thirty-seven thousand years older than the Pyrinean Creed, potentially twenty times older. Pyrine was not the first culture to name these gods, and the Pyrinean Creed is, in some sense, simply one young sect among many rather than the original tradition. What Pyrine contributed was not the gods themselves but the codification: the standardised names, the systematic theology, the liturgical calendar, and the symbol that united them. Vassal sages are unlikely to agree with this framing, but the historical record is clear.
"We did not invent the gods. We merely gave them their proper introductions." — Aphorism attributed to Pyrinean missionaries, origin unknown
The Nulakeshi Creed
The dominant Karrnathi variant of the Sovereign Host, the Nulakeshi Creed worships the same nine Sovereigns and acknowledges the same six, but emphasises each deity's portfolio differently and holds a distinct understanding of the gods' familial relationships.
Under the Nulakeshi Creed, Aureon remains the god of law and magic, but order is emphasised far more than knowledge. The creed holds that Aureon's spouse is Dol Dorn — a female interpretation of the war god, whose strength at arms defends the divine family. Their children are Dol Arrah and the Mockery, the latter acknowledged far more openly under his old name Dol Azur than in any other nation. Karrn Vassals are unusually willing to recognise Aureon and Dol Dorn as joint heads of the pantheon, while Vassals of other nations insist on strict equality among all nine.
Onatar (still Aureon's brother) is wed to Boldrei, since the flame of civilisation fuels both his forge and her hearth. Their children are Kol Korran and the Keeper, whose connected domains of trade, commerce, and wealth are understood as the fruits of a civilised order. The Three Faces of the Wild — Arawai, Balinor, and the Devourer — have the most internal variance of any Karrnathi doctrine, shaped by local experiences of famine, harsh weather, and the brutal realities of life in a nation that borders the Mournland. Even among Nulakeshi mystery cults, no two groups share the same understanding of the balance between civilisation and the wilds; a sect in Vasfold might function as a bulette conservation society for the well-to-do, while another in Karrlakton might border on ecoterrorism in its opposition to industrial development.
Olladra receives little veneration beyond token offerings to the pantheon as a whole. Gambling, cheery entertainment, and even the game of dominoes are culturally disfavoured among most Karrns. While risk-taking on the battlefield is a necessary part of the nation's martial culture, Vassals pray to Dol Dorn rather than Olladra when doing so. The main exception is found among the halflings of southern Karrnath, whose deep affinity for the goddess has played into her classical depiction across all Vassal art as a halfling woman.
The Church of the Wyrm Ascendant
Prominent in Stormreach and among certain dragon-influenced communities, the Church of the Wyrm Ascendant worships the same nine Sovereigns under the same names and groupings as the Pyrinean Creed — but it holds that the divine champions of the Age of Demons were dragons, and it depicts the Sovereigns accordingly.
The church is unusually focused on wealth and economic power. Members are expected to contribute to the hoard of their local temple, and the priests often engage in behaviour that outsiders might consider corrupt. More significantly, the church teaches the unorthodox doctrine that devoted mortals can ultimately ascend to become Sovereigns themselves — taking the place of a specific deity through sufficient emulation of that Sovereign's ideals. This ascension is generally believed to occur after death, but some priests teach that especially devoted members — particularly those who donate great sums to the temple hoard — can actually begin transforming into dragons during their lifetime. While this seems unlikely, it is not beyond the realm of possibility in a world where dragonmarks and draconic bloodlines are real.
Wyrm Ascendant Vassals believe the dragons of Argonnessen are divine tools and emissaries of the Sovereigns and Six, though few dragons have ever acknowledged the church in any way.
The Three Faces Cults
Followers of the Pyrinean Creed are encouraged to honour the Sovereigns and shun the Dark Six. But the Three Faces cults take a different view. They honour particular groupings of Sovereigns and members of the Dark Six, asserting that there are gods among the Six with something valuable to offer worshippers that the orthodox creed refuses to acknowledge.
Beyond their theological function, the Three Faces cults also serve as secret societies — fraternal orders that bind people together across national, professional, and class lines, even when their members are not deeply invested in the religious aspects. Initiation is by invitation only; members are recruited because they are considered to be blessed by one of the cult's patron deities.
The Three Faces of War
Dol Arrah, Dol Dorn, and Dol Azur (the Mockery)
The oldest and most widespread of the Three Faces cults, the Three Faces of War claims roots stretching back to the united armies of Galifar and — if its own traditions are to be believed — to the days of Karrn the Conqueror. Chapters exist in all of the armies of the Five Nations. Sect meetings provide a place for soldiers and veterans to interact as friends and equals, regardless of rank or nationality — a remarkable thing in the aftermath of a century-long war between those same nations.
The cult asserts that honour and courage are to be valued in war, but there is also a time and place for cunning and cruelty, even if these are never to be desired for their own sake. The battlefield holds a place for all three war gods: the light of Dol Arrah, the courage of Dol Dorn, and the brutal necessities of Dol Azur. Members do not worship the Mockery in the conventional sense — they acknowledge him as a force that must be understood, respected, and, when there is no other choice, invoked.
The Three Faces of Coin
Kol Korran, Onatar, and Kol Turrant (the Keeper)
Operating in major cities throughout the Five Nations, the Three Faces of Coin recruits merchants, smugglers, captains of industry, artificers, and guild artisans. It is built on a deceptively simple principle: while honest trade and industry form the core of commerce, there should always be a way for people to get what they desire — and thus the cult serves as neutral ground where legitimate business and the criminal underworld can work together.
Onatar guides those who create the goods people desire. Kol Korran inspires those who trade in the light. Kol Turrant — the Keeper — guides those who work in the shadows. The cult's initiates, called Coins, hold that there is nothing wrong with wanting things, nothing wrong with bending the rules to get them, as long you are willing to pay a fair price. The blessed of Kol Turrant — known as Pennyroyals — are the smugglers, fences, and fixers who dodge the law to deliver what people need. The Aurum often recruits from the Three Faces of Coin, and dragonmarked house members are not uncommon among its ranks.
The Three Faces of Coin is one of the only sects openly willing to sell the spells of its divine spellcasters. Spells, as they see it, are commodities: if you want one, you should pay for it.
The Three Faces of Love
Boldrei, Arawai, and Szorawai (the Fury)
The Love that Binds, the Love that Brings Life, and the Love that Burns. The Three Faces of Love embraces all who believe in and wield the power of love — actors, poets, midwives, paid companions, bartenders, mediators, and matchmakers. On one level, it is simply a place for these people to come together and enjoy one another's company; the Three Faces of Love hold remarkable salons and revels. On another, members share problems they have observed in their communities — quarrels between couples, tensions that threaten an entire neighbourhood — and seek subtle ways to resolve them. They are also excellent matchmakers who take genuine joy in forging strong relationships, sometimes intervening uninvited when they recognise a perfect match.
But the inclusion of the Fury — the love that burns — gives the cult a darker edge. Members understand that love, uncontrolled, destroys. The Fury's passion is the wildfire that clears the forest so new growth can take root. The cult excels not only at matchmaking but at disrupting relationships it considers doomed, intervening to end unions that it judges will cause more suffering than joy.
The Three Faces of the Wild
Arawai, Balinor, and Shargon (the Devourer)
Usually found in rural communities, the Three Faces of the Wild includes farmers, hunters, and wanderers who support agriculture and animal husbandry while recognising that the wild cannot be fully tamed. Members practise free-range grazing and low-impact farming, opposing techniques or industrial advances they see as causing lasting harm to the world. While they acknowledge the Devourer as the primal force of untamed nature, they do not consider him malevolent: he commands respect for nature and maintains the balance between civilisation and the wild, and should mortals forget or disrupt that balance through greed or ignorance, he will lash out as a reminder. Members sometimes engage in ritual sacrifices or the burning of fields — offerings made to the Devourer so that he takes his due from chosen offerings rather than striking elsewhere.
There have been clashes between Three Faces of the Wild sects and House Vadalis or House Cannith enclaves, as well as opposition to mundane damming and logging operations. While outright violence is rare, this represents a source of ecological conflict in the heart of the Five Nations, far from the Eldeen Reaches and the Ashbound.
The Restful Watch
Aureon and Kol Turrant (the Keeper)
The Restful Watch pairs the Sovereign of Law with the Keeper, teaching that the Keeper does not hoard souls mindlessly but rather preserves the souls of heroes for a future apocalyptic conflict. According to the Watch, this conflict will involve the collapse of the Silver Flame and the subsequent unleashing of the dreadful overlords. Aureon, in his wisdom, foresaw this catastrophe and entrusted the Keeper with the task of building an army of heroic souls to face it.
The Watch tends many Vassal cemeteries and performs funerary rites with special care, believing that their rituals help the Keeper identify and preserve worthy souls. Occasionally, the Watch identifies a living person they believe Aureon has marked as a future hero whose soul will be preserved — and an acolyte of the Restful Watch may be assigned to follow this person, chronicling their life and ensuring the appropriate rituals are performed when they eventually meet their heroic end. ("Don't mind me, I'm just going to follow you around until your heroic death. Trust me, you're going to accomplish amazing things!")
The Cazhaak Creed
The effective mainstream religion of Droaam, the Cazhaak Creed was codified by the medusas of Cazhaak Draal and represents a fundamental inversion of the Pyrinean Creed's moral framework. It acknowledges that the Sovereigns exist but portrays them as tyrants who make demands of their worshippers while giving nothing in return. The Dark Six, by contrast, support freedom and fair exchange.
Under the Creed, the Shadow is the patron of all those considered "monsters" by the people of the east. Where Aureon and the Nine hoarded their power, the Shadow gave its children wondrous gifts — the medusa's gaze, the troll's regeneration, the ogre's strength. The Fury is the Sovereign of instinct: embrace your emotions and she will guide you through them, and she is also the Sovereign of revenge, which is merely the other side of justice's coin. The Mockery shows the path to victory in battle, even if that requires treachery or fear — in Droaam, courage and honour take a back seat to victory and survival. The Devourer wields the power of the wilds: he winnows out the weak, but those who survive his tests grow strong. The Keeper's priests perform funerary rites that vary by species — from the medusas who petrify their infirm so they never truly die, to the trolls and ogres who eat their dead — and also act as healers, since disease and infection are tools of the Keeper that a priest can remove for a price.
The Cazhaak Creed assigns the same portfolios to the Six as does the Pyrinean Creed, but it frames every one of those concepts as a virtue rather than a danger. Every multicultural city in Droaam has a host of shrines and idols tied to lesser paths, but the true temple — the one that matters — is a temple of the Shadow, most likely tended by a medusa priest.
Internal Factions and Dissent
Sovereigners
A small but vocal faction of Vassals who take the faith's universalist claims to their logical extreme. Sovereigners believe that every other religion in existence is simply a different, incomplete understanding of the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six. The Silver Flame? A particularly stringent expression of Dol Arrah. Druidic practice? Nature worship that has not yet recognised what it is actually worshipping. Vol? A corruption of the Keeper. The Path of Light? A pale reflection of Aureon's domain.
You might expect these Vassals to be the most fervent missionaries, eager to bring everyone into the fold — but in fact, the opposite is true. According to Sovereigner doctrine, there is no need to convert anyone, because ultimately, everyone already worships the Host whether they know it or not. Members of other faiths find this attitude offensive in the extreme. It takes real hubris to tell someone, "Your god is actually just a misconception of my god." Hubris in a priesthood — shocking, isn't it?
Disciples
Some Vassals choose to devote themselves to a single Sovereign above all others, much as a cleric might choose a patron deity. These "Disciples" maintain shrines to their chosen god and focus their worship, prayers, and sacrifices almost exclusively on that deity. Many of the single-deity shrines found across the Five Nations were not originally built by Disciples but by ordinary Vassals who wished to honour a particular Sovereign under specific circumstances — say, a shrine to Arawai erected by grateful farmers after the sudden end of a famine. Still, such shrines serve the Disciples' needs well enough.
Most Vassals believe it foolish to worship a single member of the pantheon to the exclusion of all others. By living in the world, one must acknowledge the various aspects of that world. They regard Disciples with either pity or derision, even while secretly admiring their dedication. Some subtly persecute Disciples as corruptors of the faith, but most simply try to open their eyes to the larger truth.
Hierocrats
More controversial than Disciples, hierocrats believe that one deity of the Host is not just their personal favourite but is genuinely predominant over the others. The Blades of Dol Dorn is a warrior cult that maintains civilisation grows only through conquest and battle. The Scions of the Forge is a sect composed entirely of warforged who believe Onatar is their creator and all the other gods are his servants — he created them to create the mortal races, who, with Onatar's continuing inspiration, eventually created the warforged.
The orthodox priesthood considers the hierocrat sects more dangerous than the Disciples. A Disciple merely ignores some of the pantheon — insulting, perhaps, but not a threat. A hierocrat holds a blatantly different theological vision and actively seeks to spread it. Through dedication, personal sacrifice, and focused action, their heresy continues to grow.
Proxy Cults
A small number of people who worship fallen angels, great dragons, or other powerful beings believe that they are venerating emissaries of the Sovereign Host — that mortal minds can never truly comprehend divinity, so instead they worship lesser beings who speak for the gods. Most Vassals try to convince proxy cultists of the error of their ways, but they do not view them as dangerous or heretical — simply misguided.
The Liturgical Councils and the Question of Tolerance
The liturgical councils of the Five Nations — the closest thing the faith has to a governing body — are generally willing to overlook sects that focus on particular combinations of Sovereigns. The Mror predilection for Onatar, Dol Dorn, and Kol Korran above all others raises no objections. But any cult that treats a member of the Dark Six as equal to a member of the Nine crosses a theological red line.
To assert that the Host and the Six are equals — that the division between them is purely of mortal creation — strikes at the heart of Vassal belief. Even those Vassals who quietly offer supplication to the Keeper or the Devourer still consider those gods to be evil and fundamentally separate from the Host. To believe otherwise, and to say so publicly, is to make an enemy of the liturgical councils and potentially of one's entire community.
This tension lies at the core of every Three Faces cult's existence. They survive by remaining secret, by framing the Dark Six member as a necessary evil rather than a beloved god, and by providing social bonds valuable enough that members protect the cult even when they are uncomfortable with its theology.
From the broadsheet Voice of Thrane, "Are You a Six Fanatic?" column:
"Most of you know the Restful Watch — the kindly priests who tend Vassal cemeteries. What you may not know is that these priests honour both Aureon and the Keeper! They say the Keeper snatches the souls of heroes so they can be preserved and returned when needed. Worse still is the Three Faces of War, a cult that worships the Sovereigns of War — including the Mockery, whom they call Dol Azur. Followers of this foul faith explicitly embrace a deity they acknowledge as the patron of treachery and terror! So next time you're talking to a Brelish soldier, remember: they might be a devotee of the Mockery."