An Lord of Heaven. No one worships An directly; in fact, his name is not known, having been effaced from most of the monuments by rabid followers of Elishar. Created the universe out of thought; Ninnanna emerged spontaneously from the universe as he shaped it. He then broke off his right hand and shaped Ki, his wife, the earth, from it. Thus to swear by An’s right hand or by An’s sacred thought is a very binding oath indeed, to those few who know of it. He, Anzu, and Utu all co-existed from the beginning; scholars among the ancients believe that they may have been, and indeed, may still be, all one being, all facets of one another. Other scholars believed that they are all opposing forces, An being light, Anzu being dark, and Utu being the balancing force between them.
No specialty priests. No specialty spells. Rare representations of him as an eagle, or as a sun hidden behind clouds remain, but no one knows what these carvings mean.
Anzu. The lord of chaos and despair. Eternal demon foe of the good gods, absolute darkness. Think Cthulu. Thief of the Tablet of Fate, father of Tiam, whom he begot on Nammu (rape). Anzu, Utu, and An both existed prior to the birth of the universe, and Anzu hates all that An has created. He desires to create worlds and beings of his own, but all are mere twisted mockeries of the work of An.
Symbol: Among those not among his adherents, a hyena; a black dot. Among his followers, a lion with red-smeared jaws.
Chaotic evil. Followers may be chaotic evil or neutral evil. Specialty priests may use the sickle, the mace (in mockery of Enlil), or any other standard priestly weapon.
Specialty priest spells/abilities: At 3rd level, gain dire charm, once per day, and once more per day per each two levels afterwards. At 7th level, gain chaos once per day, and once per day for each two levels afterwards. At 12th level, gain bolt of glory once per day, and once more each day for each two levels afterwards.
Ashnan Goddess of grain, daughter of Enlil, the lord of air and wind. She is a positive goddess, but not a direct analogue for, say, Mielikki. Think more along the lines of Norton’s Gunnora, or the Greek Demeter.
Symbol: Wheat sheaves twined with grape vines; a curved line set in a short straight one to represent a sickle.
Neutral good to neutral; followers can be of any good or neutral alignment. Specialty priests of Ashnan favor the flail (agricultural tool) and the halberd (again, descendent of agricultural tools) above all weapons.
Specialty priests spells/abilities: Gain at 3rd level the ability to cast entangle once a day, and once more each day per each two levels gained. At 7th level they gain the ability to charm animals once per day, and once more each day per each two level after that. At 12th level they gain flame strike as an innate ability, usable once per day, and once more each day per each two levels afterwards.
Ea Lord of the sweet waters. Ea knows everything and is regarded as the source and patron of wisdom and magic. He is one of the creators of mankind, towards whom he is usually well disposed, and taught them of art and beauty. (Denier/Ogma analogue, also important in agriculture). For purposes of this pantheon, let him be the husband of Ashnan.
Symbols: Fish; a wavy line, representing a flowing river.
Lawful good to neutral good; followers can be of any good or neutral alignment
Enlil Lord of the air. The son of An, heaven, and earth, Ki. Replaced his father An as the lord of the World; An is still the Overlord of the Universe. Enlil holds the Tablets of Destiny, which give him power over the world and the affairs of man. He is sometimes friendly towards mankind, but can also be a stern and even cruel god who punishes man and sends forth disasters, such as the Cataclysm. Enlil was portrayed wearing a crown with horns, symbol of his power. Husband of Mammetu, goddess of fate.
Symbols: crown with horns; hawk; three lines parallel to one another (wind)
Lawful good; followers must be good aligned, although chaotic good characters may have problems with this particular deity. Specialty priests favor the mace (symbolic of the scepter) and sling.
Specialty priest spells/abilities:
Ereshkigal Goddess of the underworld, wife of Nergal. Deity who expresses easeful death and judgment in the afterlife. A daughter of Shamash and Ninnanna, she was kidnapped by Nergal-Erra while young, and Enlil himself decreed that they must wed in a sign of peace between the warring factions of gods.
Symbol: The owl; three tears. Those who after death earn one of her tears, may have reduced punishment in hell; for two, they may ask for a second chance in rebirth, and for three, they are sent to ANDURUNA, land of the gods, to live in the eternal bliss she is ever denied.
Lawful Neutral, very few followers.
Ishkur God of storms and rain. In some respects positive (rain is good). Analogue to the Coyote/Loki./trickster figure. A relatively minor god, but one that takes an interest in humans, and that interest is not comfortable. Child of Utu and Ninnanna.
Symbol: A fox with chaos in his tail; a cloud with gentle rain.
Chaotic good to Chaotic neutral; followers can be of any chaotic alignment.
Specialty priest spells/abilities: Chaos or chaotic commands, once per day, starting at 3rd level; greater malison once per day, starting at 7th level.
Ki Goddess of earth, mother of Enlil all the gods except for An, wife to An, Lord of the
Heavens and Creator.
Not much worshipped, except through her daughter Ashnan; eternally vigilant over
Ninnanna, her older sister and only possible rival for the affection of An; sister also to
Nammu, the sea, her twin.
Martu-Amaru God of destruction and storms. Talos analogue. Son of Enlil and Mammetu, and traitor to
the gods of light. His particular foes include his father and Ki.
Symbol: Lightning; a bull.
Chaotic evil to neutral evil; followers may be of any evil or alignment or true neutral.
Mammetu Goddess of fate and destiny. Wife of Enlil.
Lawful neutral. Followers can be of any lawful alignment.
Symbol: Bound eyes; scale; the animal totem is a crane.
Mummu God of craftsmenship, technical skill, and the forge. Husband of Ninkarrak, he helped
her create humans and deminhumans, and let her use his forge as a kiln.
Symbol: The hammer, the bear.
True neutral. Followers may be of any alignment. Few to no priests, but every craftsman bows first to him.
Nammu Goddess of the sea, benevolent spirit of the sea, locked in constant battle with Martu-Amaru and Tiam for sovereignty over her waves. Their battles are what create storms. Somewhat fickle, she sometimes finds beautiful young sailors irresistibly attractive, and them into the depths forever. Born at the same time as Ki, from the blood of An.
Symbol: Dolphin; trident.
Neutral good to chaotic good; followers may be true neutral, neutral good, chaotic good, or chaotic neutral.
Nergal-Erra The god of war, death, and pestilence. Not a positive deity; one to be warded off at all
costs. Usually depicted (originally) in a drunken stupor. Another of Anzu’s offspring, Nergal-Erra sprang into existence one day when Anzu had been invited to a peace-making feast with the other gods, and he drank of Ashnan’s sacred wine. He drank too deeply, and vomited on Ki, the earth. What he vomited up was Nergal-Erra, the father of all earthly war. Also, as god of death, and consort of Ereshkigal, he is Lord of the Underworld.
Symbol: a skull; a mole.
Lawful evil; followers can be of any evil alignment. Priests of Nirgal-Erra may use the club and the shortsword.
Ninnanna Queen of the Stars, and mother of Nature. Goddess of the wild places, fertility, love, and
war. Often depicted as fickle, attracting men and then rejecting them; her symbol was a eight-pointed star. More powerful than Ashnan, and far more primal and dangerous to deal with. Suggest replacing her name solely with epithets: “The Lady,” “The Mother,” or “Innana” etc., so as not to gain her notice.
Symbol: A crescent moon with stars; a raven.
Chaotic neutral to (slightly) chaotic good; followers may be of any alignment, so long as their concern is with nature, but she does not like one faction of her followers to grow too powerful over any of the others. Priests of Ninnanna may use short bows and staves.
Ninkarrak Goddess of healing, originally the craftswoman who, at Enlil’s direction, shaped the clay
of the earth into the vessels that became humans and other humanoids. She placed the vessels in her kiln, which doubled as her husband’s forge, and some vessels grew black and twisted in the heat, and some grew sturdy and strong. She ever grieves for her errors, and ever seeks to heal those she made well when others “crack” them.
Symbol: A hand, palm towards the viewer; a honeybee.
True neutral. Followers may be of any neutral (non-evil) alignment.
Priests of Ninkarrak may not draw blood; thus, they may only use blunt weapons. Any act that causes them to draw blood must be atoned for; any deaths they cause, except in
defense of others, again, must be atoned for.
Ninurta Heroic hunter and champion of the gods; the one who has retrieved the Tablets of Destiny for An and Enlil from the hands of Anzu, thus preserving the universe’s balnce towards good. A guiding god for adventurers and rangers, especially those who find Ninnanna too forbidding.
Symbol: Spear; stag.
Priests of Ninurta may use spears and staves.
Shamash God of the sun and god of warriors. Principally the judge and law-giver; a victorious warrior, the god of wisdom. Shamash is represented with the saw with which he cuts decisions. Often depicted as a consort of Ninnanna.
Symbol: Sun disk; sword; falcon.
Lawful good. Followers must be lawful good to lawful neutral; paladins must be lawful good. Some lawful evil people still invoke his name, but they only earn his hatred. Symbol: sun disk with sword and shield. Specialty priests may use scimitars or swords in addition to the usual clerical gear.
Specialty priests spells/abilities: Gain at 3rd level, protection from evil once per day, and once more per day for each additional two levels. At 7th level, know alignment once per day, etc. At 12th level, they receive sunray as an ability, once a day, etc.
Tiam (originally Tiamat); the essence of chaos; the serpent in the sea, which underlines the
whole earth. Only subservient to one other, and that is Anzu, his father, the Demon Lord.
Tiam’s mother is Nammu, but she hates and despises her son.
Symbol: whirlpool; dragon
Neutral evil; followers may be of any evil alignment, but tend to be NE or CE especially.
Priests may use a trident or a net in combat.
Utu Palladium notes that Rifts campaigns use this god (not a worshipped one) as a shorthand for the ultimate god of death. If he doesn’t agree to allow a deity to kill off a follower, that follower doesn’t die. Entropy.
Symbol: downward arrow; no animal totem.
Never addressed by true name, always use the name Enmesarra or the epithet “Lord of Silence” in place of Utu, lest his attention be attracted.
True neutral. No followers. Name virtually unmentioned, even in the ancient texts.
ANDURUNA = Olympus/Heaven