Sigmar Heldenhammer

Overview
Sigmar began as a mortal warrior-king who united the warring tribes of men and laid the foundations of the Empire. Through legendary deeds and the faith of his followers, he ascended into godhood. He is the patron of unity, righteous strength, and mankind’s resistance against Chaos. His hammer, Ghal Maraz, and the twin-tailed comet that heralded his birth are sacred symbols of his cult.

Beliefs & Principles
Sigmar’s worship centers on unity of mankind, strength in the defense of others, and relentless opposition to Chaos. The faithful are urged to show courage, protect the weak, and uphold justice. His clergy preach that Sigmar will one day return in mankind’s darkest hour.

Worship & Practice
The Cult of Sigmar is the state religion of the Empire, most powerful in Altdorf but present everywhere. Shrines are common in villages and cities alike, while cathedrals stand as monuments to his glory. Festivals commemorate his great victories, and his name is invoked before battle or in times of peril. Pilgrimages to sacred sites and relics are common, and offerings of loyalty, steel, and service are made to him.

Priests & Orders
The Grand Theogonist in Altdorf leads the faith, supported by Arch-Lectors and Lectors. Priests often serve as preachers, advisors, or battlefield chaplains, blessing soldiers and banners alike. Warrior-priests embody his martial aspect: hammer in hand, armored in faith, they fight alongside soldiers while channeling his power through prayers and miracles. The cult is highly political, its leaders holding great influence in imperial affairs. Rivalries exist with older cults, particularly that of Ulric, but the Sigmarite priesthood remains the most dominant power of human religion.

Verena

Overview
Verena is the goddess of wisdom, justice, and learning. Her worship is ancient and respected, appealing to judges, scholars, lawyers, and thinkers. She is often depicted as a serene woman with a book and a sword, embodying knowledge tempered by fairness.

Beliefs & Principles
Her faithful are guided by ideals of truth, reason, and impartiality. She embodies balance between mercy and judgment, intellect and fairness. The cult teaches that ignorance and prejudice are the enemies of justice, and that true wisdom comes only through the pursuit of knowledge.

Worship & Practice
Her temples resemble libraries, law courts, or academies. Worship is calm, reflective, and scholarly, consisting of study, debate, and prayer. She is most revered in Tilea and the Empire’s university cities, where magistrates and students alike call upon her name. Offerings often take the form of books, scrolls, or tokens of respect to the courts. Festivals may coincide with civic rituals of law and judgment, emphasizing her role as guardian of justice.

Priests & Orders
Priests of Verena are often judges, clerks, or teachers, respected as neutral arbiters in disputes. They wear grey or white robes, carrying scrolls or the sword-and-scales motif of their goddess. Though not warriors by calling, they act as moral guardians and champions of fairness, traveling to dispense wisdom in troubled lands. Their neutrality and intellectual focus sometimes bring them into conflict with more zealous cults, but they are generally trusted by the populace for their even-handedness.

Shallya

Overview
Shallya is the goddess of mercy, healing, and compassion. She is one of the most beloved deities of the Old World, though she is not always the most powerful. Often depicted as a young maiden weeping tears of compassion, she offers solace to the suffering and comfort to the poor and sick.

Beliefs & Principles
Her central tenet is mercy. Violence is forbidden to her followers, who are called to protect life in all its forms. The sick, the wounded, and the downtrodden are to be aided without judgment. Shallya’s priests believe that true strength lies in compassion, and her cult stands as a moral counterbalance to the more militant religions of mankind.

Worship & Practice
Her temples serve as hospices, orphanages, and hospitals. Worshippers bring offerings of food, bandages, or coin to aid the needy. Her followers pray for healing in times of plague, injury, or grief. Worship is especially strong in Bretonnia, Estalia, and the southern Empire. Festivals to Shallya are solemn affairs of charity and public mercy, often involving free healing or mass blessings of children.

Priests & Orders
Shallyan priests, most often women, are pacifists who refuse to carry weapons. They wear simple white robes with a heart symbol, often stained with blood from their healing duties. They devote themselves to tending the sick and the poor, embodying the living spirit of their goddess. While they rarely hold political power, their influence is moral and spiritual: in times of crisis, their counsel can sway rulers, and their refusal to sanction cruelty has altered many decisions of war. They are most often found in hospitals and plague-stricken towns, but some travel with armies to heal the wounded of all sides.

Morr

Overview
Morr is the god of death, dreams, and the afterlife. He is the guardian of souls, ensuring that the dead pass peacefully into his realm. He is not a god of cruelty but of inevitability, and he is deeply opposed to necromancy, which he views as a perversion of his sacred charge. Morr is often portrayed as a dark figure surrounded by black roses or ravens.

Beliefs & Principles
The cult of Morr teaches acceptance of death as part of the natural order. The living must honor the dead and avoid the arrogance of trying to cling to life unnaturally. Dreams are seen as windows into his realm, and prophetic visions are sometimes granted to his faithful. His priests despise undead, seeing them as abominations that must be destroyed.

Worship & Practice
Every graveyard in the Old World doubles as a temple to Morr. Worship is quiet, mournful, and reverent, often marked by ceremonies of burial, remembrance, and protection of the dead. Offerings of flowers, especially black roses, are common. His worship is strongest in Tilea and the southern Empire, where elaborate cemeteries known as Gardens of Morr are maintained by his clergy.

Priests & Orders
Priests of Morr wear black robes and act as guardians of cemeteries. They serve as undertakers, dream-readers, and protectors against necromantic corruption. Their authority is spiritual rather than political, but they are widely respected for their solemn duty. Some travel to battlefields to sanctify the dead or hunt down necromancers. Though often grim and feared, they play a vital role in maintaining the balance between life and death. Their work is lonely and sometimes dangerous, for grave robbers, cultists, and undead are constant threats to their sacred duty.

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Manann

Overview
Manann, son of Taal and Rhya, is the god of the seas, storms, and tides. Like the ocean itself, he is fickle and capricious — sometimes calm and generous, sometimes furious and destructive. He is worshiped as lord of the deep, master of currents, and guardian of sailors. His symbols include the trident, the albatross, and the five-pointed crown of waves. To sailors and coastal folk, he is both protector and tormentor.

Beliefs & Principles
His cult teaches respect for the sea’s power, obedience to its dangers, and humility before its vastness. To insult Manann is to invite wreck and drowning. Mariners are urged never to kill albatrosses or dolphins, which are sacred to him. His followers say every voyage is a gamble of life placed in his hands, and every sailor owes him tribute.

Worship & Practice
Manann is worshiped most strongly in coastal cities such as Marienburg, Sartosa, and Tilean ports, but also along navigable rivers. Shrines are found in harbors, lighthouses, and even on ship decks. Rituals often include pouring wine, blood, or food into the sea as offerings. A voyage usually begins with prayer to Manann for fair winds, and a storm is met with desperate chants and sacrifices to calm his fury. Pilgrimages to his great temple in Marienburg are common for sea captains. Fishermen, sailors, and pirates alike seek his blessing — though pirates often call on his darker, stormy aspect.

Priests & Orders
The cult is loosely organized but politically strong where maritime trade dominates. The High Temple in Marienburg is the center of his faith, led by powerful clergy who enforce his rituals as part of maritime law. Priests wear robes adorned with shells, seaweed, and wave motifs, and many serve aboard ships as chaplains. They bless voyages, interpret omens from the sea, and sometimes act as judges in harbor disputes. A famous order, the Albatross priests, specialize in navigating storms and protecting ships with their rituals. Initiation rites often involve enduring violent seas, proving one’s courage to the god.