The Grey Circles are a compromise between good and evil. Like all such compromises, they are violently disliked by both sides: Heaven dislikes the use of sorcery, a discipline steeped in the lore of Evil, while Hell gnashes its collective teeth at the idea of sorcerers learning and propagating their power without making any Infernal deals. However, the Ethereal gods are more tolerant. Right now, sorcerers are willing to trade Essence for knowledge, rituals and protection … and are just as happy to acquire them from entities that don’t require their soul in exchange.

Naturally, the Ethereals would have come to this arrangement centuries ago, but Hatiphas, the Demon of Sorcery, prevented them. Hell had made it clear from the first that this power source was theirs to provide alone. The mortal circles were indifferent, being either firmly under Hell’s control or wary of any "spirits" that offered such a suspiciously good deal for power. At any rate, the pressure from Heaven made such long-term projects unfeasible.

Then … things changed. Hatiphas went into Trauma: shortly thereafter, Circles were destroyed left and right. The few that remained were finding that their rituals were no longer effective or safe. And Heaven offered a truce to certain pantheons. Part of the Ethereal’s price was an end to persecution, subject to certain activities remaining banned. Human sacrifice, rape and murder were on the list. Sorcery was not.

Each of the Tolerated Pantheons has several circles of Grey Sorcerers that provide them with worshippers, Essence and non-human sacrifices. The Sorcerers themselves are not required to worship any ethereal gods, but most of them do. Each circle has a wide support network of ordinary worshippers: they serve as acolytes, bodyguards and missionaries to the outside world. The mystical abilities of the Circles are hidden, but neo-pagan beliefs have become more accepted in Western society: it seems that every other small city or large town has a stone circle or Grecian temple these days.

Grey Sorcerers are divided into two groups: those given their powers by the ethereal gods, and those who have broken with Hell. The former tends to be Pagan Soldiers or recent converts, and are the majority. They lack the range of powers of the former Hellsworn, but are notably more stable.

Former Hellsworn are a minority, and are the targets of most attacks by Hell or Outcast angels. An ethereal god can "overlay" the old Infernal Pact, allowing a Sorcerer to use rituals without automatic damnation, but these individuals still have a lifetime of automatic reflexes to overcome. On the other hand, the former Hellsworn know rituals that the ethereal gods are reluctant (or forbidden by treaty) to teach … this makes them dangerous but valuable to their new patrons.

In general, all rituals are taught freely. However, using them to banish ethereal spirits is at -3 for anyone but a former Hellsworn.

Also openly taught, but anyone with Command/5 or above is well advised to keep it quiet. Only former Hellsworn are likely to have this level of skill, as the ethereal gods make it a point to not teach it (or any rituals that would require it). Pagan Sorcerers could work out the principles on their own, but any Sorcerer with Command/5 or above has a permanent reaction penalty -2 from any major ethereal spirit.

Openly taught, but using it to banish ethereal spirits above 11 Forces is at -1 for every Force above 11.

The ethereal gods do not teach Create Spirit Anchor: otherwise, no restrictions.

The only rituals commonly taught by the ethereal gods are Summon Random Ethereal, Summon Human Soul and Summon Named Ethereal Spirit. Grey Sorcerers are expected to show quite a bit of discretion when using them.

In general, Grey Sorcerers may learn all forms of enchantment except Necromancy. Alchemy is common, artifact creation less so, while the creation of constructs is rare (and subject to heavy restrictions). Necromancy is absolutely forbidden by treaty with Heaven: those that do it anyway are usually former Hellsworn. Saminga's Servitors cannot tell apart undead created by these backsliders and undead created by Hellsworn, and don't even bother to try. In fact, they take great glee in removing any active necromancer from the corporeal plane.

Obviously, the ethereal gods will provide Sorcerers with their version of Sorcery: Ethereal Connection is a common reward for good service. They also will teach the Songs of Dreams, Fire, Healing, Motion and Shields relatively freely. Minor ethereal spirits may be encountered as servants. Lastly, the growing organizations of the Tolerated Pantheons can justify increased Status.

This is what Heaven calls them: no self-respecting ethereal would ever refer to themselves in this way. The term refers to those organized groups of ethereals that have negotiated agreements with the Host. In exchange for assistance and intelligence against the forces of Hell, these Pantheons have been allowed at least limited access to the corporeal plane. Just how much access varies.

It should be noted that "access", with few exceptions, does not mean "a free hand". Certain activities are still forbidden by Heaven, either because they are repugnant to angelic sensibilities or because they might allow the ethereals to gain too much power. In general, a Pantheon may:

- Receive voluntary Essence from worshippers

- Maintain and create Pagan Tethers

- Teach "Songs and other rituals" to their Dream Soldiers

- Promote their pantheons through discreet displays of power

- Move freely through the ethereal plane

- Manifest discreetly on the corporeal plane

- Generally exist without fear of a Tsayadim strike team coming in to destroy their realm

They may not:

- Use human sacrifice, murder, rape or torture to generate Essence or initiate a worshipper

- Aid or abet in the creation of undead

- Provide any assistance to those Pantheons that have not come to an agreement with Heaven

- Do anything blatant on the corporeal plane

- Outright lie to their worshippers about the nature of the War, and the ethereals' lesser role in it

- Refuse to provide "reasonable assistance" to agents of the Host that request their aid in the War

Lastly, the Tolerated Pantheons have one other privilege that may be more important than all the others: as part of the agreement, the ethereal gods may call upon Heaven for assistance if directly beset by Infernal attack (whether it be military, social or political). They tend to do this fairly often, which has caused the Malakim, at least, to adopt a general attitude of approval towards the new political situation. After all, it's providing them with lots and lots of opportunities to Smite their foes, in arenas that were previously denied to them. Gabriel is likewise pleased, for much the same reason.

Below is a breakdown of the Tolerated Pantheons, and how they've changed with the times. Where appropriate, those groups that have suffered schisms are noted. Also, unless explicitly stated, assume that Grey Sorcerers of these pantheons follow the default rules listed above.

The Aesir still believe in Ragnarok, but they've pushed the date back. Odin is even rumored to have decided that it might conflate with the Final War. They haven't altered their structure much, except that Loki is no longer the power that he was. He seems to have accepted this, which merely makes all intelligent observers nervous. Thor still remains missing, but rumors of his appearance on the corporeal plane crop up from time to time. Fenris remains bound.

The denizens of Niffelheim were not acceptable candidates for tolerance, and wouldn't have accepted an amnesty anyway. They have moved their domain to the protection of Beleth's Tower, and have begun their own rival organization, superficially using Norse beliefs but actually dedicated to destruction and torment. The war between Valhalla and Niffelheim is particularly nasty.

This has been reflected on the corporeal plane. The Aesir's strength lies in the North American continent, with strong outposts in England, Denmark and Norway. Niffelheim's power structure has grown up in Germany and the Balkans, linked to various fascist movements. Right now, Sweden is being contested between the two factions, and Denmark may be next.

The Good Folk very nearly did not become a Tolerated Pantheon at all: their truce with Heaven is the shakiest of all the ethereals. It was only after bitter debate that the Seelie Court agreed to submit. Oddly enough, the Unseelie Court was less resistant to the idea, and actually has a more stable relationship with the Host. Reliable mercenaries are hard to find, after all.

The Seelie Court does not use a rigorous mythology: instead, it attempts to co-opt the existing New Age organizations. They were generally successful at first, but have run into an unexpected snag: as the persecution ended on the ethereal planes, spirits more suited to modern neo-pagan (especially Wiccan) beliefs have emerged. They are not friendly to the Seelie Court, but have too many worshippers to dislodge. Heaven has shown no interest in assisting the Court in their removal.

The Unseelie Court is, however, doing quite well for itself, even though they have almost no real worshippers. Certain Archangels are dissatisfied with the current state of Blandine and Beleth's struggle, and are willing to use … unconventional … methods to tip the scales. Members of the Unseelie Court are subsidized, through Essence payments, to visit the dreamscapes of various servants of Hell and generally ratchet their nightmares up to the next level. They have also proved useful against Leviathan. Needless to say, this has caused quite a bit of contention within the Seraphim Council, but as the Unseelie Court is meticulous about following the rules, nothing has yet been done.

Faerie's strongholds are mostly in North America and Europe, though recent gains have been made in South America, under the guise of UFO cults (which have gotten a lot more mystical). The nature of the agreements with Heaven are such that some Fay are beginning to relocate themselves to outer space…

The Greek gods have increased enormously in power since the truce. Well, two of the Greek gods: Athena and Hespaestus. The rest have stabilized themselves, but not to their extent.

This was completely unintentional. When the truce was signed, Athena naturally expected that her fellow immortals would immediately jump in to help her seek new worshippers. They didn't, perhaps due to apathy, incompetence or just plain fear of the modern world. The only reliable help that she received was from Hespaestus. So the two of them worked out a plan of action on their own.

Their new sect (a sort of techno-paganism venerating logic, self-understanding and progress that turned out to be of interest to the computer culture) has been quite successful: groups of followers have risen up in most of the industrialized nations. Olympus now has a distinct high-tech look. Incidentally, the two of them have found themselves linked romantically by their worshippers' mythology, and are seriously considering emulating this in reality.

The other Greek gods have been relegated to maintaining more "traditional" believers, and have just begun to realize that they may have missed out on a good deal. The two most aggravated by this are Apollo (who is not pleased that his gender no longer entitles him to automatic rule) and Aphrodite (who is simply incensed that her husband could even think of abandoning her for someone like the Goddess of Wisdom), but the power structure has been permanently shifted. Hera and Poseidon have acquiesced to the new way of things far more gracefully, and have done a decent job in spreading Olympian beliefs through the Balkans, Greece and the Mediterranean. Poseidon has been especially successful in encouraging his worship (or at least superstition) among sailors.

The native Amerindian spirits have fewer restrictions on their activities than almost any other pantheon, and that's mostly due to their luck in having an actual Archangel as patron and protector. Jordi doesn't often play politics, but when he does, he can have enormous influence. As a result, this pantheon has reestablished itself with little interference. Mostly, they focus on the remaining Native American tribes, though certain New Age belief systems are also promising sources of Essence. South America is a likely area for future expansion.

Currently, there are very few Sorcerers serving Amerindian spirits: Jordi likes the practice no more than any other Archangel, and the native gods dislike Sorcery on principle. Too many of them were attacked or enslaved during the bad years.

This group has been little changed by the truce, except that they find their ongoing quest to reacquire ties with their original Australian worshippers much easier. Like the Amerindian spirits, the Australian spirits have little use for Sorcerers, with the exception of enchanters.

One debate currently going on is whether or not they should eventually expand their base of worshippers past the native Aborigines. The success of Olympus on the computer nets is very interesting, and the concepts behind the Dreamtime would translate quite well into an online format. However, at the moment the Australian spirits do not really have the time or the resources to exploit this resource.

The Egyptian gods are the smallest Tolerated Pantheon, and have completely abandoned all hopes of reconverting the descendants of their former worshippers (no doubt in part to Khalid's vigilance). Instead, they have concentrated on Sorcerers, mystics and existing secret societies. More Grey Sorcerers follow the Heliopolitans than any other pantheon. Obviously, this pantheon may be found anywhere: their next major project is to begin proselytizing in the former Soviet Union, where the current conditions of despair and uncertainty should prove to be fertile ground. To be fair, the Egyptian gods have altruistic aims in mind, and would certainly reward their new worshippers with some badly needed corporeal assistance.

It is rumored that the Egyptian pantheon provides more sorcerous knowledge than the norm, to their exceptionally worthy worshippers. If this is true, than they are well hidden … and even here, it is unlikely that those hidden teachings include necromancy. The Heliopolitans have too much to lose.

Set has not accepted the truce with Heaven, and has fled to Hell. He is currently attempting … carefully, carefully … to realize his long-held desire to attain a permanent place of power there. It is unlikely that he will succeed, even now, but he is tolerated for his necromantic skills (something in short supply, thanks to Saminga's thoroughness). As a permanent denizen of Hell, Set no longer needs human worship to survive, and he has proven indifferent to setting up a dark cult to serve his needs.

Formally speaking, this is not a Tolerated Pantheon … yet. The Japanese spirits were doing fairly well, thanks to their agreements with Nybbas, and the sense of urgency that fueled the other ethereal pantheons' truce with Heaven did not exist. As a result, all attempts to negotiate a break with their Infernal benefactors were formally rebuffed. This should have been an end to it.

It wasn't. Quite a few of the kami and major Japanese gods came to the realization that they didn't like betraying their natures by corrupting humanity. Their protest quickly escalated into outright rebellion. This faction is now fighting for the soul of the Collective, hoping to break its servitude to Hell … or at least form a rival pantheon recognized by Heaven as being aligned with Good. Various unaligned ethereal spirits from dozens of mythologies and folklores soon joined the rebels, looking for a chance to exist in safety: Uncle Sam now battles alongside Tenjin and the New Soviet Man.

The war is fought openly in the ethereal plane, and through public perceptions in the corporeal. While Heaven has not yet officially recognized the rebel faction, Marc and Eli have provided personal assistance, and recognized rebels are not molested. The current state of the fight is a stalemate, but that could change at any point.

There had always been an unofficial truce between the African syncretistic spirits and the Host: recent events have simply made it formal. As a recognized religion, Santeria and Voudon initiates have always been fairly open about their abilities, and the loas have more freedom of action than any other pantheon in moving about the corporeal plane. Thus, they have changed their activities little.

Sorcerers, however, do not make their activities public. The loas, like the Heliopolitans, are rumored to teach more Sorcery than the norm, but they are under constant scrutiny from Saminga's forces. The production of zombies has effectively ceased. However, this pantheon has more former Hellsworn than any other, so the knowledge is still presumably available.

One point of interest: now that the truce with Heaven is official, many "good" unaligned spirits have allied themselves with the loas. Some very odd cults and sects have begun to emerge from this fact…

The Aztec gods were never offered a truce, and continue to serve Beleth. The efforts of both the Seelie Court and the Amerindian spirits have made any inroads on their former bases harder, however. Quetzalcoatl has still not returned.

The Hindu pantheon, never attacked by the Purity Crusade, has formally made a peace with Heaven, but did not submit to any restrictions on their activities. On the other hand, there are no Hindu Grey Sorcerers at all. The situation thus remains neither friendly nor hostile. Still, the new peace means that Heaven will assist the Hindu gods in attacking Hell … and vice versa.