The religions of Faerun are some of the most divisive elements of life in Faerun. They influence almost every aspect of life, and unlike real world religions, these God cannot be denied. They have clerics and paladins, holy relics, sites of great importance, and incredible magics at their disposal. The closest the common people come to being non-religious is accepting the power of the Gods but denying their divinity, but even these people are considered extreme and often social pariahs.
There are a few major religions in Faerun, but most of them show a begrudging respect for others; as such many people worship at multiple temples and hold no one particular patron.
The Pantheon Of Man
The largest religion of men and most other races. A polytheistic belief system that believes in a society of Gods that interact with each other and balance each other out. There are 15 aspects to the pantheon, 10 divine aspects and 5 human aspects that represent different aspects of life and the universe. Within the divine aspects there are demi-gods worshipped as specific aspects of the temple. Some claim these are gods in their own right, others treat them as saints, archangels, or aspects of their god. There is much interpretation between the temples and contradictions are commonplace. The Pantheon often claim this is the nature of the gods, that they balance each other out and that the flaws in the nature of the gods exist to better exemplify their divine qualities.
The divine aspects are: Bane - the God Of Tyranny, Chauntea - The God Of Fertility, Cyric - The God Of Madness, Kelemvor - The God Of Death, Lathander - The God Of The Sun, Oghma - The God Of Knowledge, Selune - The God Of The Moon, Sune - The God Of Beauty, Talos - The God Of Destruction, and Tempus - The God Of Conflict.
The human aspects are considered by some to be lesser gods, while others claim they're more important temples as they represent gods that are more connected to humanity and it's nature. They are: Azuth - The God Of Wizardry, Helm - The God Of Protection, Tymora - The God Of Fortune, Waukeen - The God Of Trade, and Gond - The God Of Invention.
Mystaria
Mystaria is a growing but small religion. Followers often pay respect to the Pantheon and Triad and up until recently where tolerated across all of Faerun, but now they find themselves the target of religious purges in Amn and the southern countries. Followers of Mystra, the Goddess Of Magic; they consider the Pantheon in it's entirety to be non-divine. Claiming that the gods are nothing more than mortals from another plane that discovered a method to make themselves immensely powerful and near immortal. They cite the fables of the pantheon where gods have wounded and even killed other gods in the past as examples of this. Their own god Mystra has died on two occasions, with some claiming she was reborn each time, and others saying the title of Mystra has been passed on from one entity to another as they died. Believed to originally be a human sorceress who unlocked the true nature of the Arcane, it's said that Mystra is the one who built the natural phenomenon known as The Weave which allows Wizards to cast their spells. Mystra is sometimes treated as part of the Pantheon, but as her followers deny divinity, and claim that humanity is not only capable of being equal to the gods, but has achieved this multiple times; many religious people within the pantheon find this interpretation offensive.
The Triad
Also once a part of the Pantheon, the Triad represents the first major schism in the Pantheons history. Three of the temples claimed that their followers found little need to offer fealty to so many gods, and that the expansive nature of the pantheon was a mistranslation of ancient texts and ideals. While they claim the aspects represented by the gods are important; the adversarial nature of the pantheon was damaging to faith, stability, and the common good of the people. It was also claimed that the Pantheon propped up aspects of evil and that worshipping the aspects of tyranny, madness, and destruction out of fear was the equivalent of a holy protection racket. Naturally such a claim created massive divides as the individual temples took great offence to this breakaway faction conflating them with evil. Following a bloody war, the temples finally called a truce and the Triad formed. A monotheistic temple that believes there's only one god who operates as three distinct parts. Tyr - God Of Justice represents the fairest and truest division of the divine. Torm - God Of War represents the darkest parts of human nature, the need to push forwards and progress. Finally there's, Ilmater - God Of Hope (though also known as the God Of Suffering) represents sacrifice and selflessness. It's believed by followers of the Triad that these three philosophies combined create a moral whole that teaches one how to live.
The Triad claim that they don't have power over nature, they have no need for gods of the sun, moon, seas, storms, etc. as these are merely aspects of nature that are beyond the scope of mere mortals. Instead the Triad teaches that the purpose of religion is to reflect on oneself and live the best life you can. Self-reliance rather than the devout worship of deities in the hope that they will intervene. That someone who is just does Tyr's work regardless of faith, someone who is brave does Torm's work regardless of faith, and someone who is selfless does Ilmater's work regardless of faith. It is believes that someone who can display all three traits in equal measure would be the true prophet who would bring about the enlightenment of people, but so far no-one has ever claimed to be this prophet (though many claim Lady Arabeth was this prophet, she denied it saying she lacked the bravery to agree that she was the prophet, and the selflessness it would take to devote her life to this role). This inward approach to life actively encourages people to interpret the teachings of the Triad their own way as well as actively suggesting that the Pantheon is obsolete and regressive; because of this there are still tensions between the Triad and the Pantheon, despite them co-existing in countries across the Swords Coast and Faerun. Worship of the Triad outside of the Swords Coast however is rare; a fairly new religion by comparison. While the fastest growing faith, if you travel beyond the Sea Of Fallen Stars or the boarders of Amn, temples and shrines are still rare and only recently has the religion spread even as far as Cormyr.
The Druidic Rites
Followers of the Druidinc Rites often referred to as the ancient gods, old ones, or the spirits of nature consider their beliefs to be somewhat different to the other religions. They don't consider their gods to be true gods in the sense that other religions do, but rather the collective spirits of the world. There are five elemental forces each of which have their own spirit. Akadi - The Spirit Of Wind, Grumbar - The Spirit Of Earth, Istishia - The Spirit Of Water, Shar - The Spirit Of Umbra, and Kossuth - The Spirit Of Fire. These five spirits are considered to be the basis behind nature magic, and have been know to physically manifest for druids. Unlike Arcane magic and divine magic; nature magic used by druids is claimed to be in constant flux as druids say they draw on the life of the planet directly. That for every spell they cast they are drawing life from somewhere in the world to fuel it. Because of this druids rarely cast their magic unless necessary, and consider those who learn the druidic rites only to abuse them for power to be the most immoral people that can be. Calling such people despoilers, the druids usually vow to stop them at all costs as they leach life from the world that doesn't belong to them.
While an ancient religion with many devoted members, the druidic rites is often followed in tandem with another religion. It's not uncommon to find someone who also worships the Pantheon or the Triad in Faerun, yet is a practised druid and follower of the Druidic Rites. Being such a passive and permissive religion, has allowed it worship to go by, seen as "harmless" by most other temples. If followers of the Druidic Rites do also follow a god, common gods include Talos, Silvanus, Selune, and Ilmater.
Cult Of Mask
Not by any means a recognised religion in any part of Toril, the Cult Of Mask is one of the largest underground cults in existence. Mask, the Lord Of Shadows, is like Mystra a mortal person who according to legend discovered a method by which to ascend to deity-hood. Upon achieving this goal, Mask attacked the God Cyric stealing a portion of his power, the power over lies and deceit (which is why it is often said that the crazy always tell the truth)... or so the legend goes. There are some scholars, particularly in the bardic colleges that claim that Mask is a demi-god or archangel of Cyric; after all it's befitting for the mad god to have a demi-god beneath him that hates and plots against his own interests.
Worshipped by thieves and conmen, Mask is almost never worshipped openly unless it's part of some grand deception. Mask followers prefer instead to pledge themselves to another temple as cover, or work within an establishment such as the bardic colleges. Followers of Mask almost always maintain ties to the thieve's guilds. One surge in the support of Mask was in the Shadovar, the Netheril army that waged war with Cormyr. Some say that Mask is still in an immortal corporeal form and lives on Shadowvar leading the Netherese people; though that claim is often treated as propaganda spread by Cormyran forces to dehumanise their enemy at a time of war.
The One True Light
The worship of Kossuth in Thay is treated very differently than in other parts of Toril. Considered the one and only god in Thay, worship of all other deities is strictly forbidden though worship of corporeal entities is not. The other spirits of the druidic rites are treated as elemental forces, and worshipped as the four elements of life. Other forces worshipped include Asmodeous, Orcus, Tiamat, Zehir, Graz'zt, Demogorgon, and Lolth. All of these are considered Archfiends by most of the civilised world, and are known to be creatures of great power who reside in the planar hell dimensions; The Abyss, The Nine Hells of Bazor, or The Daemonwebb Pits. There are countless other fiendish forces worshipped in Thay, giving the country a reputation as demon worshippers. Above all others however, they revere Kossuth, the god of Fire and Rebirth and according to their texts the creator deity of the planes. Many druids find the One True Light to be a corruption of their faith, however clerics of Kossuth have some of the most powerful divine magic in Toril and more than half those capable of resurrection magic are followers of this faith, so opinions vary greatly.
Alitai
The religion of the Dragonborn. Alitai is the worship of the three forms of god. Ubtao the Primordial, the God of Instinct and Will. Sseth the World Snake, the God of Perseverance and Strategy. and finally Bahamut the Dragon King, the God of Honour and Judgement. It's said that learning to master all three forms allows dragonborn to ascend to the ranks of the immortal dragons in the form of a perfect spirit. While more brutal and based in self-interest than the Triad, many scholars in the swords coast have drawn parallels between the two religions; claiming Ubtao's teaching are an animalistic interpretation of the teachings of Torm, Sseth's teachings are a corruption of the ideas of Ilmater allowing them to be used to justify violence rather than prevent it, but still recognisable as Ilmaters teachings in part, where as the laws of Bahamut are clearly focused around justice and law so are quickly linked with the teachings of Tyr. Because of this, while the worship of dragons (particularly Tiamat) are considered heresy in much of Faerun, Alitai as a religion is given a pass as many in Faerun consider it little more than the Triad with different names.
While the human perception of Alitai is very focused on themselves; the Dragonborn consider that perception to be arrogant and ignorant of the grandeur of dragons. Claiming the human pantheon is what the humans should be worshipping, and considering the Triad to be nothing more than humans mistranslating draconic texts. They claim the reason the Triad seems at odds with the human pantheon is because it's really just the way of the dragon renamed an misread. Many dragonborn see Ilmater followers as missing the point entirely as Sseth's teaching are to make you stronger and better, not to teach someone to be a professional victim. The most cited reason the Dragonborn give for saying that the Triad are merely following a corruption of Alitai is that they claim Bahamut lives and rules over their nations as a God-King. While no human has personally seen Bahamut, multiple Dragonborn across Faerun and in all walks of life claim to have personally met the God-King and that he's the living embodiment of fair judgement on Toril.
Balance Eternal
The elves of Faerun often choose to worship the Pantheon of Man; but those who don't usually worship the two elven gods. Silvanus - Lord Of Nature, and Corellon-Laretheon - Guardian Of Civilisation. Most of the elves of the island nations consider these two gods to be the only gods. A brother and sister, who keep everything in perfect balance. Outside of the elven lands, these gods are rarely followed and many claim that the teachings of the elven religion inspired gods in the pantheon of man, particularly Sune and Oghma who are claimed to both represent teaching that Corellon-Laretheon represents for the elves.
The Great Forge
The history of the Dwarfs is largely missing and a mystery. While a Dwarven pantheon is known to have existed, once containing 12 different gods who apparently ruled over the dwarven people in the form of a council, this pantheon is known only to scholars and archaeologists. Many dwarfs are sullen about religion, claiming their pantheon died because their people are dying, unable to give their gods the faith they deserve so the dwarven people deserve no oversight from the divine. This rather depressing outlook on faith has spread amongst the dwarven people who have lost hope that their people can fight off extinction.
For those who do believe, one dwarven god is worshipped still. Moradin - The All-Father, The Soul Forger. Believed by many dwarves to be the greatest of the dwarven gods and the creator of their people, hence the last one to maintain power; followers of Moradin are often heard saying "so long as at least one dwarf still breaths, Moradin's power can never die". Teachings of Moradin include isolation, fostering ones own intelligence, learning to build with ones own hands, and maintaining peace and coexisting with other races and nature. While a peaceful religion, Moradin's teachings also instruct it's followers on the rules of honour which are of massive importance to dwarven culture because "Should the dwarven people ever die, all that remains of us will be the tales told by other races; be sure the first thing they speak of is your honour, integrity, and good nature. If that lives on, so do the dwarves in spirit".
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