Annam
| Annam | ||
|---|---|---|
| Two hands with wrists together and fingers pointing down | ||
| Aliases | The All-Father, the Great Creator, the Prime, Progenitor of Worlds | |
| Alignment | True Neutral | |
| Divine Rank | Greater God | |
| Pantheon | The Ordning (Giant) | |
| Portfolio | Giants, Creation, Learning, Philosophy, Fertility | |
| Domains | Knowledge, Magic, Plant, Rune, Sun | |
| Home Plane | The Hidden Realm (Outlands), Ysgard | |
| Worshippers | Giants | |
| Favoured Weapon | Halfspear | |
Annam the All-Father is the Neutral creator of the giants in the Greyhawk setting and the head of the Ordning, the giant pantheon. He seems to be your typical "Sky Father" type god; a stern, commanding, wise and knowing patriarch, but in reality is a lustful buffoon who constantly gets himself into trouble by thinking with his heart. Or whatever blood-filled organ is throbbing so loudly. In this, he can be seen as a pastiche of Zeus, who was also a Sky Father type god whose lusts led him to make foolish mistakes - and who was even directly descended from the Titans, divine beings whose name gave us the word for "fuck-off huge".
History & Realm
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As the creator of giants, Annam is a really huge god. Standing up to 100', or about 30 meters, the Progenitor of Worlds towers above all. Giants believe he created the Prime Material Plane, while others claim he worked alongside the other deities to create the world in cooperation. Storm Giants however believe that all of creation stems from his dreams; that Annam is the godhead of reality.
Annam is all-knowing and has a degree of foresight. While this would mean a "I win" button for any other god, Annam is a lustful and instinctive individual who often acts against his own interests because "it felt right". He rarely shares his knowledge with his followers: only the greatest may be his clerics and only if they will excel they will receive a vision, once. He rarely sends an avatar to the Prime Material Plane, only when history is defined will the All-Father be there.
Annam used to live in the realm of Gudheim in Ysgard. Here there was his orrery from which he could watch the worlds and their going-ons. But he grew tired of watching the countless conflicts on the countless worlds, and eventually left for the Outlands. Gudheim still exists; tended to by the faithful who sometime serve as the hosts to pious clerics of Annam who get to see Gudheim just before they die. The souls of giants who die do not go to Gudheim: instead they go to Jotunheim, which is on Ysgard as well.
Giant legend holds that he challenged the dragon god Garyx to a game of "Wah-ree" (basically chess for giants) to determine who would win the 1000-year war between giants and dragons. They both played so well that they tied, so the war ended in a truce.
Followers
Annam is worshipped by almost all of giantkind, who each see part of themselves in their creator. Annam teaches to honor the hierarchy of the society of giants, not to raise one's hand against a fellow giant (failing this results in immediate forfeit of one's clerical rank) and to not underestimate other races or impede their goals. Annam's clergy is ranked high in giant society, but they have to be of the line of the elder giants in order to qualify for this position. As said before, they receive at best once in their lives a vision from their god, but far from all of them do so.
Father of Giants
While his creation of the race of giants might have given him the metaphorical title of "Father of Giants", for the rest of the pantheon of giants this is to be taken literally. Annam has a nasty case of being unable to keep the dick inside of the pants: as such he has sired many children with gods and mortals alike. They are: