Celtic pantheon

The Celtic pantheon, formerly known as the Tuatha De Danann, was a loose pantheon of gods, one of the most adaptable and influential in all the Outer Planes. A number of its members were known of or worshiped in the Realms.

Description
The members of this pantheon largely resembled humans. They had a reputation among some as being dark and brooding, but in actuality were much more carefree compared to most pantheons. To varying extents its members all loved beauty, knowledge, and life. They also highly valued cunning, hospitality, song, and strength. But above all they preached freedom of choice to their followers and respect for nature.

As a whole the members of this pantheon were incredibly inclusive and tolerant of others. This was to such an extent that they didn't even demand total loyalty from their worshipers and they were willing to welcome most any deity into their pantheon, so long as they shared those aforementioned basic attitudes.

When it came to establishing themselves on other worlds, the Celtic gods were willing to adapt themselves to fit niches similar to their own portfolios.

Base of Operations
With some exceptions, the members of this pantheon chiefly resided in the divine realm of Tir na Og in the Outlands, with each of them maintaining a separate divine realm within its borders that had their own peculiarities.

The deity Arawn resided on the island of Annwn, amidst a vast ocean in Niflheim, where the pantheon's disreputable petitioners were sent. Math Mathonwy resided in Corriegrave, a divine realm on the Khalas layer of Gehenna. Diancecht and Lugh were wanderers with no set realm of their own. And Manannan Mac Lir resided in the realm of Tir fo Thuinn &mdash; close to the realm of Tir na Og, it was part of a lake at the base of the Spire.

Notable Members

 * Arawn: The Celtic god of life and death.
 * Daghdha: Also known as the dozen king, was the Celtic god of weather and the head of the pantheon.
 * Diancecht: The Celtic god of healing and medicine.
 * Dunatis: The Celtic god of mountains.
 * Goibhniu: The Celtic god of healing and smithing.
 * Herne: A corrupted aspect of the Master of the Hunt.
 * Lugh: The Celtic god of art, commerce, and travel.
 * Manannan Mac Lir: The Celtic god of the ocean.
 * Master of the Hunt: The Celtic god of hunting, who brought a haunting phenomenon known as the Wild Hunt to any land where the pantheon was worshiped. Or sicked it upon anyone foolish enough to muck about with the freedom of Tir na Og.
 * Math Mathonwy: The Celtic god of magic.
 * Oghma: The Celtic god of art and knowledge.
 * Silvanus: The Celtic god of forests and nature.

History
According to ancient legends, the Celtic pantheon began with many members being born to a goddess known as Danu on a fabled island, but no evidence of her existence could be found. The Believers of the Source claimed that she had likely moved on to a form of existence even greater than that of the deities, perhaps becoming an overgod.

Other legends claimed that the Celtic gods sprang forth from nature itself.

History on Toril
Sometime around -4370 DR, a devastating plague occurred on Toril in the land of Raurin, ravaging the ruling Imaskar Empire. Four years later, the mages of the Imaskar Empire sought to revitalize their population by opening two great gates to another world, then kidnapping from it numerous humans to serve as their slaves. Eventually their empire would crumble in -2488 DR, but survivor states would emerge in its wake, such as the kingdom of Bakar. The people of this kingdom built a mighty city, Medinat Muskawoon, that housed temples to the gods of their ancestors' original world. Among them was a temple to the Celtic god Dunatis.

Later in Toril's history, a wave of planar immigrants came from the same world that the Imaskar Empire had taken humans from. They were folk from a rugged land with a culture tied to nature, the sea, and the warrior history of its dozen-king greater god. These brought their own societies and faiths, the worship of Celtic deities like Herne and Oghma, and settled around the time of the rise of Netheril.

In later centuries Oghma would go on to join the Adama and Faerûnian pantheons, Sylvanus would join him in the latter Faerûnian, and Herne would go on to be worshiped by orc tribes in northwest Faerûn's High Forest.

Eventually, Herne was challenged and defeated in battle by the deity Malar, who proceeded to assume his portfolio.

Relationships
When establishing themselves on Prime Material worlds, the Celtic pantheon was known to take in deities from a world's local pantheon or to join those pantheons themselves. This thereby ensured the Celtic pantheon's own continued growth and survival.

The location of Tir na Og attracted some tension (for the reason why, see the "Worshipers" section), but the pantheon did its best to remain neutral in planar affairs, albeit with some exceptions. Arawn for example would interfere with the Blood War when necessary to protect her divine realm from the fiends.

Some individuals in this Pantheon were not directly worshiped on Toril, though they did have relations with deities that were. For instance, many of them were on good terms with Sheela Peryroyl. And Daghda was fervent friends with both Erevan Ilesere and Garl Glittergold.

The Olympian pantheon were considered their primary rivals due to its opposing, insular nature. The head of the Celtic pantheon, Daghdha, thought the Olympians weren't any match for them and that they were too full of themselves and Zeus forbid the Olympians from fraternizing with the Celtic gods. Though not all members of either pantheon felt animosity. For example, Goibhniu had a secret friendship with Apollo and often compared notes or skills with Hephaestus.

Worshipers
The Celtic pantheon was as often served by druids as by clerics, for they were closely aligned with the forces of nature. Their religious services were performed in groves consecrated by the planting of holly and mistletoe.

Due to Tir na Og being situated in the Outlands, a plane that touched every other Outer Planes, the divine power of this pantheon's priests wasn't hindered anywhere in the Great Wheel. This made them quite popular among planar travelers. The location, as well as the pantheon's adaptable and inclusive nature, all contributed to them being quite prominent across the Prime Material plane.

Some halfling druids on Toril worshiped Daghdha, Lugh, or Sylvanus. Though this was not a common practice.

On the Elemental Plane of Water, Manannan Mac Lir was one of the many ajami ocean gods that marids had a shrine to within the Citadel of Ten Thousand Pearls.