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jibriil
Acolyte
Australia
5 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 19:36:53
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Are there any examples in the Time of Troubles regarding worshippers of Ao, being welcomed into the folds of any singular god or struggling to choose between the varied religions? Were they shunned by the deities for worshipping Ao?
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Edited by - jibriil on 15 Sep 2008 19:38:15 |
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Pandora
Learned Scribe
Germany
305 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 21:23:32
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quote:
Originally posted by jibriil
Are there any characters that follow multiple gods? - say Mystra and Vhaerun? Is it possible?? Could someone who once followed Ao gain favour with any group of gods of similar disposition, A priestess of Eilistraee and servant of Mystra? Or even opposing such as Mielikki and Lolth? A Chaotic Neutral Extremist....
There must be some example of dual worship. Is there any example of this in RW religion that could serve as example as to how this could be incorporated?
Well a "sort of" example in real world is the adaptation of certain holidays from "heathens" by "accepted religions". This is of course an organized effort to make the transition from one belief to another easier.
An example of dual worship - although a really special one - is Shakti Hunzrin from the Starlight & Shadows trilogy. She is a cleric of both Lolth and Vaeraun ... a "traitor priestess" and both gods know about it.
I would think there are loads of non-clerics who "revere" more than one god and the Harpers are an organization which works together with several faiths. Thats the point of having a pantheon, every god has a job to do and gets worshipped at the appropriate time. Only priests fully specialize in their belief, but I would think at least the good aligned gods / clerics respect other deities and their followers. Members of certain character classes tend to have certain preferences in deities (Wizards -> Mystra/Azuth/...; Warriors -> Torm/Helm/Tyr/...), but that doesnt exclude them from respecting other deities since it might be wise to give an offering to Umberlee when planning a long trip on the seas, even if you dont particularly like her ... |
If you cant say what youre meaning,
you can never mean what youre saying.
- Centauri Minister of Intelligence, Babylon 5 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 23:45:11
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quote:
Originally posted by jibriil
Are there any characters that follow multiple gods? - say Mystra and Vhaerun? Is it possible??
It's not only possible, but common. The Realms is a polytheistic setting. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 16 Sep 2008 : 01:35:57
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quote:
Originally posted by jibriil
Are there any characters that follow multiple gods? - say Mystra and Vhaerun? Is it possible?? Could someone who once followed Ao gain favour with any group of gods of similar disposition, A priestess of Eilistraee and servant of Mystra? Or even opposing such as Mielikki and Lolth? A Chaotic Neutral Extremist....
Power of Faerûn clarifies that 'Most folk in Faerûn embrace (or drift into) primary worship of one deity above -- even if only slightly above -- all others.' Except for priests, the distinction between your most-worshipped god and your second-most-worshipped god is only quantitative, not qualitative, and not everyone sees their most-worshipped god as their 'patron'.
This is something Ed built into the Realms from the very beginning. As he said back in '04:-
"So that’s the way I did it. DRAGON issue 54 contains my work-in-progress
unfolding of a pantheon of gods, and a glance at that article will show you three things
at work: like all D&D gamers at the time, I was trying to stay official, matching deities
with what Gary Gygax had revealed of his (the Greyhawk setting); I wanted lots of gods
(one aspect of the Realms that’s thus far been neglected is the extent to which Jonthun
the baker next door worships Chauntea for a good harvest, Tymora for good luck in the
baking, Talos for good weather so the grain crops won’t be ruined, and so on, all in the
same day);"
quote:
There must be some example of dual worship. Is there any example of this in RW religion that could serve as example as to how this could be incorporated?
There are indeed a handful, mostly in the old material, of lay worshippers/divine casters that have more then one deity listed. |
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Vangelor
Learned Scribe
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - 17 Sep 2008 : 11:06:58
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I see AO as sort of the be-all of the divine energy vested in Abeir-Toril, a sort of Teilhardian unanimization of all the individual gods that ever were, are, and will be. It is ultimately knowable only to the gods, and then only so far as they transcend their personal agendas to exist as the highest manifestation of world-related consciousness. Which is all very metaphysical, but such is the nature of gods.
As far as what gods can and cannot do, and what AO can allow or forbid, I think we can try to guess from the Dawn Cataclysm and the Time of Troubles, but not really know - after the manner of the allegory of Plato's Cave, or the blind men and the elephant.
Yes - I apply real philosophy and theology to my roleplaying games. Everyone needs a hobby.  |
Edited by - Vangelor on 17 Sep 2008 12:30:39 |
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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 11:54:08
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I like to find analogies with D&D Base (Mystara) because I suspect that (good) ideas never dies, could be changed but never dies...
Mystara: (immortal ranks)
Initiate, Temporal, Celestial, Empyreal, Eternal, and Hierarch
3.5 cosmology:
Demigod, Lesser, Intermediate, Greater
Forgotten:
Demigod, Lesser, Intermediate, Greater + AO
So... my explanation is that AO is a sort of Eternal (Enough distant from a man point of view to be incomprehensible) but with one or more Hierarchs above him!
This could also explain Bane actions just befor ToT. If there is a hierarchy... there will always be someone who try to climb it, while other are just happy to stay where they are!
In this way I also had the possibility to use AO in some campaign plot.
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ShadezofDis
Senior Scribe
402 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 16:51:06
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Eh, I like the idea of AO (and other beings) because their existence helped solidify my concept of deities, the planes and the relationships involved. I look at AO as a engineer tasked with making sure The Forgotten Realms (the entire reality that FR exists within) keeps working. In my little theory everything works as a sort of closed system that keeps recycling the energies (souls basically) within the system to keep it going. I haven't worked out all the details but it gives a solid purpose to the planes and something to take up the time of all these immortal beings.
It's all academic though, since I don't run epic campaigns where the PCs must take on a hugely powerful outsider to prevent that outsider from drawing FR into it's plane. ;) |
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ShadezofDis
Senior Scribe
402 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 16:57:50
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Oh, and everything that's happened in FR could be exactly what AO wanted to happen. The Spellplague could be the result of the Gods being cast down and then brought back up, the amount of power that went into that move could easily have produced a Spellplague. It could also be a result of AO and company (assuming AO is a steward of the balance and is not alone in that position) . .. wait, is the new cosmology a "it's always been there" sort of deal? Or is it a "The Spellplague ripped through reality to create the new cosmology"? If it's the latter then the Spellplague could be the "overdeities" doing, the result of changing the face of the cosmos.
I mean, there's plenty of possibilities when we're talking about overdeities. ;) |
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Ayunken-vanzan
Senior Scribe
Germany
657 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 17:03:06
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| The new reality is caused in part by the spellplague and in part by deities taking advantage of the situation (Shar, for example ...). |
"What mattered our lives now? When our world had been torn from us? Folk wept, or drank, or stood staring out over the land, wondering what new horror each dawn would bring."
Elender Stormfall of Suzail
"Anyone can kill deities, cause plagues, or destroy organizations. It takes real skill to make them live on."
Varl
FR/D&D-Links • 2ed Downloads |
Edited by - Ayunken-vanzan on 18 Sep 2008 18:07:40 |
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Arioch
Learned Scribe
Italy
222 Posts |
Posted - 18 Sep 2008 : 19:10:10
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quote:
It's all academic though, since I don't run epic campaigns where the PCs must take on a hugely powerful outsider to prevent that outsider from drawing FR into it's plane. ;)
Of course I agree with you...
I never used AO in a campaign, but I like the idea that he is there. Knowing about it's role just help me calibrating the gods' plans that could affect adventures... |
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Finally, AO has or hasn´t a "boss"???
