At present, the main deities are Zokharat, Kelnitza, Dariktla, Morkatlar, Kreitlina, Nandrizt/Nandrixta, and Tizelot.

The religion of the Tzaltakans is practiced ONLY by members of that race--anyone who cannot prove at least 25% Tzaltakan blood and yet dares to enter one of the concealed temples can look forward to a brief, prominent, and fatal role in the ceremony. In order to avoid drawing the attention of the Adantri, whom they consider their oppressors, the Tzaltakans locate their temples in caves in the hills around Simtakka--there are also a few caves actually under the city which are used in this fashion. Occasionally, ceremonies may be held in the catacombs--the mazes of underground burial vaults located just north of the city walls (and sometimes connected with the cellars of buildings within the city...). When humans are sacrificed, they are usually either vagrants--and not too many are taken at one time, to avoid drawing suspicion--or slaves purchased, usually to the west, for that purpose. The bodies are normally concealed afterward, again to avoid drawing unwanted suspicion; one sub-sect, however, normally eats the bodies of their victims. (Since the victims, always non-Tzaltakans, are considered to be lesser beings, this is not considered by those cultists to be cannibalism--it would only be cannibalism if they ate one of their own.)

Dariktla: the younger of the two consorts of Zokharat, chief god of the Tzaltakans of Simtakka Province. She is a goddess much more to his taste than Kelnitza. She is a relative newcomer to the pantheon, "jumped up" from a position as servitor to the god of the dead, Morkatlar. Her province is that of overseeing the actual deaths of cult members and cult sacrifices in order to choose those worthy to become members of Zokharat's court and to condemn the unworthy to various hellish places. Any resurrections will come through her hands, also. She receives no official sacrifices of her own but is considered to be always present when a sacrifice is made and, in the process of relaying the mystical substance of the sacrifice to the appropriate deity, she gets the first skim off of it. She is considered to be a very greedy goddess, however, and, when she thinks she can get away with it, she will possess some priestess or cult follower of hers, seduce a young mortal, and "love him to death." She is sometimes called the "Lady in Red."

Kelnitza: one of the two consorts of Zokharat, chief god of the Tzaltakans of Simtakka Province. Back in the beginning, when the Tzaltakans did their own farming, she, as an earth goddess, was one of the most important members of the pantheon. She has not taken her demotion gracefully. She is the only deity of the modern Tzaltakan pantheon who does not DESIRE human sacrifices; however, a young man is generally sacrificed to her each spring, and a young woman each fall, just to annoy Her (probably at the instigation of her rival, Dariktla). The shedding of innocent blood in her name also weakens her power.

Kreitlina: the Tzaltakan goddess of sorcery--she and Zokharat were the most detested by the Adantri when they came into the area. The sorcery with which she is associated is of the blackest and bloodiest sort, and she is said to be "consort to demons," or at least to be on very good terms with them. Sacrifices to her are conducted by sorcerers rather than priests and may take many forms, as the ritual spells with which she is approached are numerous. She is said to assume mortal form at will, to "honor" some favored male sorcerer with her body--she is an insatiable lover, but she DOES repay the hapless sorcerer (ruined for normal women thereafter) with great power. She is also said to have possessed the bodies of female sorcerers and aided them with sacrificial/sex magic. Rumor has it that when she is in one or the other sort of mortal manifestation, she has approached male magicians who are not Tzaltakans and attempted, sometimes successfully, to seduce them to her service. Magicians of Simtakka, beware!

Morkatlar: the Tzaltakan god of death and the dead. He has only one priest of his own and receives only one formal sacrifice per year, since all sacrifices must come to him eventually. Every year at the summer solstice, a man, who traditionally must have fathered at least one child, is chosen to represent Morkatlar. He attends all sacrifices to all gods during the next twelve months and is honored and catered to in every way; at the next summer solstice, having spent the last month training his successor, he is, himself, sacrificed to Morkatlar. This is the only case where the sacrificial victim must be a member of the cult.

Nandrizt/Nandrixta: the Tzaltakan god/goddess of deception. His/her true sex is unknown, or perhaps this deity is neuter or bi-sexual, or even twins. Servitors of this deity always wear masks and concealing robes. Sacrifices involve skinning the victim, and the skins are preserved and sometimes used for disguises--no one knows just how the masquerades are accomplished, but they are very difficult to detect, even by friends of the deceased. This deity is considered a valuable patron for thieves and politicians.

Tizelot: the Tzaltakan god of prosperity, and the least important member of the pantheon, as far as power goes, but popular with the lesser folk. He normally receives the sacrifices of small animals (watch out for pet cats, pekinese dogs, hamsters...) by people who can't afford more, and he repays (if at all) in scale with the value of the sacrifice he receives. Someone who is opening a business or sending out a caravan will usually try for a human sacrifice, but the vagrants who normally fill this role are regarded as being only slightly more valuable than, say, a goat...

Zokharat: the chief deity of the Tzaltakan race of Simtakka Province at this time. Initially, he was a weather god and "father of the tribe" type; he still retains those areas of interest but is now also regarded as a god of warriors, set up in opposition to Mantor. Sacrifices to Zokharat are killed in ritual combat which is designed to insure that they cannot win (although a gladiator might...), thus symbolizing the invincibility of Zokharat. The sacrifices are given cloth armor and weapons of reed to counter the leather armor and metal weapons of the cult's champions.