Additional Loa

Erinle
A.K.A.: Abatan, Erele, Inle
Erinle, one who is worthy to enjoy life with, it is you who are my guardian. Erinle stands on the
shores of the river, where he gathers the plants that comprise his healing medicines. Erinle is the
river itself, catching fish for those who need them. He has many lovers among mortals and Loa
alike who love him as much in return. And why wouldn’t they? Erinle always meets them and
their needs on their own terms. This adaptability is part of why Erinle always appears wealthy
and successful wherever he goes. His home may be in the Nigerian river that bears his name —
the site of his Apotheosis — but waters flow far and mingle easily, so he travels widely to be
with those he cares about. Wherever he goes, he appreciates comfort and the finer things in life.
Because he knows both require the basic needs of health, food, and love, he offers those three
first. In keeping with his nature, most of Erinle’s Scions are Born into diverse families. As a
parent, he can be monogamous or part of a polyamorous cluster, occupying any role, traditional
or not. What’s important to him is that his children are born from love and grow to be people
who appreciate all the forms in which beauty can manifest. Erinle’s many children must find a
way to enjoy comfort without sinking into indolence. Yes, they are fortunate — often born into
wealth or blessed with privilege that makes daily life easier than it is for people around them —
but Erinle wants them to be aware that not everyone has the same advantages. He remembers
the struggle to live off the land as a hunter and the painstaking labor of finding and blending
medicines by hand. If the children of Erinle have it better now, it’s up to them to share their
good fortune with others.
Associated Epics: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Charisma, Appearance, Perception
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Water
Associated Epics: Athletics, Awareness, Control, Marksmanship, Melee, Presence
Baron Cimetiere & Baron La Croix
Cimetiere (“cemetery”) and La Croix (“the cross”) are somber Barons, watching over
graveyards and protecting the dead buried there. Cimetiere guards the dead in general to keep
sorcerers from forcing them into the half-life of a zombie. La Croix is present in the first and
oldest grave of every cemetery, which becomes a shrine through which petitioners offer prayers
to the ancestral dead for their aid. Scions Chosen by Cimetiere or La Croix tend to be
morticians, grief counselors, gravediggers, and others who deal directly with death, but always
in the context of the dead’s relationship to the living. They’re there to soothe loss and help
others remember the past so they can face the future.
Associated Epics: Stamina, Perception, Intelligence
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Darkness (Cimetiere), Death, Guardian, Health, Magic
(La Croix)
Associated Abilities: Academics, Awareness, Fortitude, Investigation, Occult (La Croix)
Science, Stealth (Cimetiere)
Lasyren
A.K.A.: Yemoja-Oboto, Olokun, Yemoo, Yemaya, Iemanja, Stella Maris, Mami Wata
Lasyren is a mermaid, the sort who runs a golden comb through her long, shining hair as she
sings to those who travel by sea. She is the promise of wealth and abundance from the waters,
protector of sailors and fishers, calmer of storms, and rescuer of the drowning. Lasyren’s
Incarnations only appear in water. If she needs to convey a message to someone on land, she
sends it through possession; the would-be possessed douses themselves in seawater to get the
God comfortable before inviting her in, and bedecks themselves in suitably elegant
accouterments: They powder their face, put on perfume, and wear a fine dress of white, blue, or
gold. Until they can present themselves in a way Lasyren considers befitting the queen of the
waters, she will not communicate. Once she does, the possessed loses control of their legs, as
the Loa has a tail instead and doesn’t care to walk in the manner of mortals. Lasyren’s Scions
depend on the sea’s blessings for their livelihood or help others who do so. The most common
are those who sail and fish, but she also Chooses lighthouse keepers, deep-sea researchers,
treasure hunters looking for sunken pirate gold, and any others whose living or passion revolves
around the ocean. All she asks of them is to stay near the water, admire her, and protect people
who don’t understand how dangerous her realm can be.
Associated Epics: Strength, Stamina
Associated Purviews: Animal (Cetaceans), Cheval, Fertility, Frost, Guardian,
Psychopomp, Water
Associated Abilities: Athletics, Brawl, Command, Craft, Fortitude, Melee
Marassa Dosu Dosa
A.K.A.: Taiyewo & Kehinde, Edun, Adanjukale, Hohovi, Ibeji
Twins saw the houses of great personages but did not go there; instead they entered the houses
of the poor. In Ishokun, Òyó, a farmer had an ongoing infant-mortality problem until he figured
out that, oh, of course the troop of monkeys with super powers that he repeatedly drove away
from his fields had cursed his wife out of spite. Once he let the monkeys run rampant over his
crops, his wife bore two healthy children, the first sacred twins among the Haitians. Presumably
his farm didn’t do so well after that, but he had magic children, and that was what was
important. Haitian mothers are now four times more likely to conceive dizygotic twins than any
people on Earth. The older twin, traditionally named Kéhiǹdé, sends the younger twin, Taiyewo,
out first, to make sure the World is worth inhabiting. The Twins judge your actions with the
clarity and lack of preconceptions only children have. Wherever they go, animals follow,
singing along with them like they’re a Disney prince and princess, or animated ponies. Their
incarnations are always twin children, though neither has a preferred gender. Marassa tend not
to generate Scions traditionally. Any twin, though, can become their Scion, especially if their
mother has previously lost children. Because the Marassa Visit these Scions young, their
adventures often involve their families, and they rarely operate without bands. As often as not,
the non-Marassa-Scion twin winds up Scion of some random non-Loa divine parent, who
generally claims to have no idea how it happened. This phenomenon makes them foundational
to Loa diplomacy with other pantheons.
Associated Epics: Charisma, Perception, Wits
Associated Purviews: Animal (Monkeys), Cheval, Death, Fertility, Magic
Associated Abilities: Art, Awareness, Integrity, Larceny, Medicine, Occult
Moremi
Hail to you, Morèmi, oh Great Mother, our sacrificial redeemer. Once upon a time, the Ìgbò
people (no relation to the modern Igbo) attacked Ilé-Ifè. Terrified to see not men, but alien
beings from beyond the veil assaulting them, Ifè’s defenders broke in confusion. Many Yorùbá
were captured and enslaved. A woman named Morèmi promised the Esinmirin River a great
sacrifice if she could end Ìgbò’s tyranny, then allowed the Ìgbò to capture her. Tall and
statuesque, she caught the Ìgbò king’s fancy. She lived as his wife for five years until, in a
moment of weakness, he revealed to her that the Ìgbò spirits were no spirits at all, but mortals in
raffia costumes. Morèmi escaped to Ilé- Ifè, revealed the secret, and suggested Ifè’s infantry
carry torches into battle to burn away the raffia. At the next raid, Ifè routed the terrified Ìgbò,
who never returned. But the river Esinmirin demanded the life of Morèmi’s son Olúorogbo in
return. When she killed him, a golden chain descended from Heaven. Olúorogbo sprang to his
feet and scaled the chain into the sky. Morèmi always has an Incarnation — in fact, a
reincarnation — in Ilé-Ifè. The reincarnation, called Chief Èrí, presides over the yearly Edì
Festival of purity, which reenacts Morèmi’s adventure and sacrifice through feasting, wrestling,
and pranks. But the Èrí remains solemn and mournful throughout the festivities, for it is hers to
remember Morèmi’s grief and loss. On the rare occasions Morèmi Incarnates herself as
someone else, she picks unassuming woman in a servile or subordinate position such as an
office worker, cleaning lady, or army grunt — the better to spy on the wicked and powerful.
Olúorogbo’s sacrifice gave Morèmi an anxious intensity towards her Scions. She chooses them
carefully and takes an active role in their lives. Lasyren nags her about being a helicopter
parent, but Morèmi’s unlikely to listen.
Associated Epics: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance, Wits
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Fertility, Fire, Guardian, Illusion
Associated Abilities: Awareness, Empathy, Larceny, Politics, Presence, Stealth
Obatala
A.K.A.: Aniyikaye, Oro Oko Afin Eni Shoju Shemu, Obatarisha, Alade Sheshefun, Orisha-Nla,
Oxala
One should not laugh at a person with protruding teeth because the deformity is caused by the
fashioner Loa, who made the teeth without covering them with flesh. Obàtálá is nominally in
charge of the Loa, although their wife Lasyren hasn’t noticed, King Shàngó doesn’t care, and
you shouldn’t even mention the issue to Odùduwà. We use they/them pronouns because Obàtálá
bounces between male and female depending on which camino you encounter. Obàtálá’s
caminos evince a particularly diverse range, from his Warrior youth to his sagely old age. When
Obàtálá molded the first humans from clay, Èshù offered them a draught of palm wine. They
were too tired and thirsty to realize what exactly they drank until it was too late; Obàtálá’s
humans weren’t quite up to code the rest of the day. They still feel bad about it, so they’re now
the patron of people with disabilities. Obàtálá was also Ilé-Ifè’s first king before Odùduwà
busted in and took over, which is the closest thing there is to a Titanomachy around here. Many
of Obàtálá’s favorite Incarnations help out disabled people. You might find them working in
hospital administration, social services, or a nonprofit. They also like to travel, wandering
around as a tourist complete with belt pouch and giant camera. Èshù might not be too far
behind.
Associated Epics: Epic Stamina, Epic Perception
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Health, Justice, Sky
Associated Abilities: Art, Awareness, Command, Craft, Fortitude, Integrity
Oduduwa
A.K.A.: Oodua
The one whose abode covers the entire world, the mighty one of the world, he who blesses his
devotees and never causes them harm. King Odùduwà is Ilé-Ifè’s tutelary god. He accuses
Obàtàlá of getting drunk and falling asleep when they were supposed to create and populate the
World, so that Olódùmarè sent Odùduwà after them to finish the job. Odùduwà created the
Earth, sparking a long rivalry which ended with Odùduwà seizing Ilé-Ifè from Obàtálá — a
conflict that humans ritually reenact every year. Odùduwà and Obàtálá never get along even at
the best of times: Odùduwà thinks Obàtálá weak, and Obàtálá thinks Odùduwà stuffy, stuck-up,
and presumptive. Even more controversially, Odùduwà alone among the Loa believes in Titans
as a separate category from Gods. He claims to have defeated ancestral spirits of the river, sun,
and fire when he first took power in Yorùbáland. Odùduwà believes in ending threats and
problems swiftly and forcefully. The god-king who rules Yorùbáland from Ilé-Ifè is Odùduwà’s
current Scion and Incarnation. Ritually sequestered from mortal humans, he participates on
Odùduwà’s behalf in various important ceremonies. Odùduwà’s best-known Scion, Oranmiyan,
represents what Odùduwà expects of every child: perseverance and greatness. When it came
time for Oranmiyan to leave home, Odùduwà sent three lice to each king of Benin, bidding
them care for the lice for three years and then return them. When they succeeded, Odùduwà
judged Benin worthy to receive Oranmiyan as their god-king and warrior hero, thus founding
the Òyó Empire.
Associated Epics: Strength, Dexterity
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Darkness, Earth, Justice, War
Associated Abilities: Athletics, Brawl, Command, Craft, Marksmanship, Melee
Kouzen Azaka Mede
A.K.A.: Zaka, Orisha-Oko
Kouzen plants no melon; yet he eats its seeds. Once a mortal hunter and soothsayer, Kouzen is
country as hell, but he’s a great friend to everyone. You can trust him with any secret, but he’ll
always tell the truth — and neither of those things is a contradiction to him. He may have a less
glamorous job than Lasyren or Sabata but we all survive by Kouzen’s power. Any time the Loa
can’t resolve a conflict themselves, they drag Kouzen away from his farm to mediate. When he
and Baldr of the Æsir hang out at parties, it’s adorable. Kouzen’s symbol is the bull behind the
plow. All cultivated plants are his domain. He wears no-nonsense workman’s clothes in earth
tones, and his Incarnations are farmers, hunters, or ranchers, people who live close to the soil
and the plants. His Scions have joined those of the Celestial Bureaucracy's Yandi Shennongshi
and the Amatsukami's Inari in an agricultural think tank, researching new techniques to improve
crop yields while campaigning against child slavery and wasteful corn ethanol. Kouzen's goal is
to ensure that no human need ever go hungry again. Kouzen’s Scions tend to be unpretentious,
generous, and hardworking, the glue holding bands together. When everyone else is too
wrapped up in themselves and their own stories to realize “we should figure out who’s cooking
breakfast this morning” or “we should resolve this personality conflict on the off chance we
need to use teamwork in the near future,” Kouzen’s Scions step in to save you from
ignominious failure.
Associated Epics: Charisma, Perception, Intelligence
Associated Purviews: Animal (Bests Of Burden, Birds), Cheval, Fertility, Justice
Associated Abilities: Awareness, Marksmanship, Occult, Presence, Science, Survival
Orunmila
A.K.A.: Ifa, Orula
Whoever refuses to obey the diviner’s words…should be prepared to see Olódùmarè in heaven.
Anyone can throw kola nuts or cowries and read how they land. But for serious quandaries, you
need a trained diviner, a babaláwo (male) or iyaláwo (female), to perform a formal Ifá
divination for you. Bring an offering of money, whisper your question or problem to the
offering in secret, and hand it over. The awo throws a divining chain strung with halved palm
nuts, or else tosses nuts on a ritual tray, matching the pattern in which they land to one of 256
poems they memorized during training. The awo then counsels you on how to proceed,
including recommending sacrifices to any spirits who might be less than pleased with you. Ifá is
synonymous with Òrúnmìlà. He’s close to Òsanyìn and Legba, and is the only Loa who
regularly talks to Olódùmarè. As befits the voice of God, Òrúnmìlà doesn’t go in for fancy
Incarnations, dressing in a billowy green-and-gold Nigerian agbada wherever and whenever you
see him. He’s a working babaláwo even now; if he has time, he’ll usually get out the palm nuts
for someone free of charge if they recognize him and ask politely. It’s who he is: not only the
god of divination, but also divination itself. Òrúnmìlà’s Scions gravitate not only to divination,
but also to any field which demands a steel-trap memory. Predictably, they make excellent
detectives, university presidents, and pharmacists. They’re highly sought after as advisors and
consultants.
Associated Epics: Perception, Intelligence
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Magic, Mystery, Prophecy, Sky, Stars
Associated Abilities: Academics, Awareness, Investigation, Medicine, Occult, Science
Ossange
A.K.A.: Aroni, Ossaim, Osanyin
Praise to the owner of herbal medicine. Once upon a time, the master botanist and herbalist
Ossange hoarded his knowledge, plants, and concoctions. When Òrúnmìlà complained to Legba
that he needed Ossange's plants to divine, Legba knocked over Ossange’s house. For what it’s
worth, he insists he didn’t realize Ossange was inside at the time. Rocks fell, crushing Ossange
like a cartoon coyote. Now he’s half his former height, with one eye, one arm, one leg, one giant
deaf ear and one tiny hypersensitive one, and a squeaky little voice. But at least now he
understands how to share. Ossange’s symbol is the healer’s or diviner’s staff, topped with a
metal bird figure. His herbalism underlies all West African and Afro-Atlantic sorcery — thus its
common African-American name, “rootwork.” Strangers in a strange land, struggling to apply a
different continent’s botany to American flora, African root doctors nevertheless were slave
society’s medical, spiritual, and cultural keystones. In places like pre-Civil War New Orleans,
while white pharmacists poisoned rich clients with mercury and opium, poor and malnourished
black people enjoyed a higher standard of care from conjurers who had already figured out such
techniques as inoculation. Ossange hates to Incarnate because his new body inevitably suffers
some catastrophic accident; waiting for it to happen is just too nerve-wracking. Instead he
possesses dolls or children’s toys, imbuing them with his weird fast-forward-sounding voice
(and giving everyone nightmares). He exhorts his Scions to master a field of knowledge (not
just medicine or botany, though those often come easier), then share it with the World.
Divinity’s seed is in them; they can do better than big pharma.
Associated Epics: Stamina, Perception, Intelligence
Associated Purviews: Animal (Birds), Cheval, Fertility, Health, Magic
Associated Abilities: Academics, Awareness, Medicine, Occult, Science, Survival
Oshossi
A.K.A.: Ochosi, Oxossi, Age
Oshóssí quickly unleashes his arrow; we see him only to embrace a shadow. Oshóssí, the
handsome archer with the sexy voice, came originally from Ketu in the former Òyó Empire,
whence many slaves were kidnapped to Brazil. His symbols are the bow and arrow, often
wrought in iron as a holy symbol, and the huntsman’s flywhisk. In the New World, where
bowhunting and the forest were Native American signifiers, he gained a feather headdress, a
jaguar skin, and considerable anxiety re: getting Fatebound into cultural appropriation. But
there’s depth behind the awkwardness. Another of Oshóssí’s symbols is three parallel arrows,
which represent not only his marksman’s eye but also the strength of unity. He and his brother
Ogou bickered all the time over hunting grounds until Legba heckled them for not getting any
hunting done while arguing. Thereafter, Ogou cleared brush with his machete and Oshóssí crept
along behind to shoot game. So Oshóssí embodies the relationship between Africans and
American Indians. When African captives escaped into the Amazon rainforest, American
swamps, or Haitian backcountry, the First Nations helped them adapt their survival skills to new
territory. Then, as Europeans systematically exterminated indigenous peoples and belief
systems, some of their religious figures passed into African keeping and became Loa. Oshóssí’s
parenting style is quiet and patient. A consummate hunter, he watches and listens more than he
speaks, but his words are concise, beautiful, and memorable. His Scions are frequently
multiracial, cross-cultural adoptees, or immigrants, living on the threshold between
demographics. They love to explore; no social or geographic territory is too dangerous for them.
Associated Epics: Dexterity, Charisma, Perception
Associated Purviews: Animal, Cheval, Justice, Psychopomp
Associated Abilities: Animal Ken, Awareness, Control, Integrity, Marksmanship,
Survival
Oya Iyansan
A.K.A.: Araka, Iansa, Avesan
The Tearer arrives; the palm fronds tear. Oya don’t play. She guards the cemetery gate with a
sword in one hand, a whip in the other. Where her husband Shango is the thunder, Oya is the
lightning and stormwind. Her sacred place is the market and her sacred animals are the bull,
goat, pigeon, and black hen. When Shàngó’s ego gets out of control, Oya checks him. She’s also
the only Loa who risks standing up to Legba. At some point in the past, Legba guarded the
cemetery and Oya the sea, but Legba tricked Oya into swapping Purviews. Oya grew into her
new role, but never forgave Legba. She may not relish warfare like Shàngó or Ogou, but she’s
always ready for a good fight. She’ll tear into you with an evil grin on her face and as much
excitement as if she were dancing in the club. Oya dresses like a superhero: rainbow outfits,
capes flapping in the wind whether or not there’s any wind that day. Describing her Incarnations
as “riverboat captain” or “meteorologist” doesn’t quite capture the impact of seeing lightning
illuminate her standing on deck during a storm, or seeing a twister sweep over her and lift her,
cackling with glee, into the sky. She’s one of the most popular Loa, and she deserves it, because
she’s a fuckin’ badass. Oya’s Scions are flashy and fearless, ready to speak truth to power and
look good doing it. You might have heard of Omolara Muḥammād, the Wall Street
whistleblower who lost her job at a leading brokerage firm because she investigated her
superiors for a crime they did, in fact, commit.
Associated Epics: Strength, Dexterity, Charisma
Associated Purviews: Animal (Bull), Cheval, Death, Guardian, Sky, Water
Associated Abilities: Athletics, Brawl, Control, Marksmanship, Melee, Presence
Sabata
A.K.A.: Obaluaiye, Ile-Gbigbona, Ile-Titu, Olode, Babalu Aye, Obaluaie, Omulu, Sagbata,
Sakpata, Sonponna
He feasts with the father of the household, but he strikes down his son in the doorway. That one
day, the day of the yam festival, Sabata wasn’t dancing. He has a cane, after all, and he’d drunk
as much palm wine as anyone else. But they wouldn’t stop bothering him, so he eventually got
up and got down — not well, but at least he tried, right? So it was not cool when someone
crashed into him, he fell down, and everyone saw his wooden leg under the raffia cape that
conceals his disease-scarred figure. They pointed. They laughed. Someone improvised a song
about it. Sabata lashed out at the dancers around him with his cudgel…and soon after, they
came down with smallpox. For that, Obàtálá banished him to the forest, which he wanders to
this day. Yet the Loa close ranks around Sabata every time an angry mob or witch hunt seeks to
cast him down. Let the other pantheons throw shade and whisper all they want. He’s no Titan,
he’s our brother. Sabata wields smallpox and other epidemics. Some say Olódùmarè originally
cursed him with disease for his sexual promiscuity, that he died and Erzulie had to bribe God to
bring him back. His Incarnations show his face never, his body rarely. He might be a hazmat-
suited doctor or researcher, or a Fuke Zen monk with a straw hood and shakuhachi. His
popularity among mortals nevertheless rivals Erzulie’s: congregations, capoeira schools, and
popular songs bear his name. Sabata’s Scions are scary. They’re unafraid of seeing the worst of
the World: war, disease, pollution, Australian wildlife, you name it. They’re at home in shadows
and wilderness. They go to places no one else dares, to solve problems no one else wants to
think about.
Associated Epics: Dexterity, Manipulation, Perception
Associated Purviews: Cheval, Death, Earth, Health
Associated Epics: Awareness, Control, Marksmanship, Medicine, Stealth, Survival