| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Aryalómë |
Posted - 13 May 2013 : 00:44:33
In the meantime while I'm waiting for my questions to be officially answered by Ed or THO, I thought I'd ask the Candlekeep community these questions and brew some speculation:
Would Spirit folk be common at all in the Moonshaes? Seeing as that region of Faerun is extremely naturally tied, I'd assume that there'd be quite an abundance of Spirit folk there.
Another question: can interloper deities have any affect on Faerun? I'm making a character and want him to be a priest of Frey (Freyr), but I'm not sure if he can really have any affect in Faerun if interloper deities can interact with them. What about the extended Seldarine too? Do they have a place in the Realms? [I consider deities like Loviatar, Mielikki, Talona, Tyr, etc, to be interloper deities because they are deities straight from Finnish and Norse lore respectively]
Yet another: Are there some cults or people who still worship Mystryl? Honestly, I kind of prefer her over Mystra a little because she represents the chaotic energies of magic rather than a just a lawful aspect of it and I'd like to have a character that worshiped her in that way. If so, would they still be able to receive (especially priest classes) blessings and other power from her? Would they still be able to become Chosen of her?
Last question: If a character worships more than one deity (which I'm assuming most people in Faerun do), where would their souls go if they didn't really have a certain patron deity? Say, if a character worshiped Shar, Silvanus and Kossuth together, where would their soul go? Is there some sort of neutral ground where they go or some cultural afterlife like most real world cosmologies have? |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 13 May 2013 : 21:56:18
Midnight, successor to the first Mystra, also took the name Mystra upon her ascension - yet her church tolerated both names for their goddess. Those among Cyric's faithful who were converted from the worship of Myrkul referred to their god as Cyruk and thought him as a sort of reincarnated version of their god, "reborn" through a process of death. The distinction I'm trying to point out is that these churches recognized and worshipped the identities of their deities as individuals, not merely as the current exalts of divine station and portfolios. Post-ToT 2E lore often referred to "orthodox" (typically high-level) faithful who stubbornly maintained their beliefs in their "old" gods in ways which reshaped their faith in their "new" gods - it's not impossible that the canonical schisms and splinter faiths of these churches could have been perpetuated.
A few (rather insane) worshippers of Karsus have been noted in the fiction. Sometimes also a few (probably insane) worshippers of Moander who have revivified the faith of their once dead, lost, and almost-completely-forgotten god.
It has been noted that the Shadovar recognize Mystra as simply a new name for Netheril's old Mystryl, although they officially disdain her worship in favour of serving Shar. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 May 2013 : 04:25:24
An interloper deity won't be able to do much more than grant spells and special abilities (like the abilities of specialty priests, or a paladin's laying on of hands) to his followers. So your cleric of Frey would still have all priestly abilities, but wouldn't be able to expect any assistance beyond that.
Spelljammer material covered the issue of being in a sphere where your deity is not worshipped. Even without any contact with the deity, a cleric could still regain 1st and 2nd level spells. There was a spell called contact home power. I believe it was 2nd level. The spell would allow you to basically "call home" to your deity, and regain full spells and abilities as if your deity was worshipped locally.
Another alternative was divine agreements. Some deities have agreements with deities of other spheres, and would power up each other's followers.
A third alternative would be a similar deity deciding -- for his or her own reasons -- to grant your spells and abilities.
Now, if you want Frey to have influence within the Realms, and to be able to do more than just grant spells to your character, then you've got to convert people to Frey's faith, build temples to him, and otherwise give him a toehold into the Realms. And we're talking on a large scale -- you'd need to get thousands, if not tens of thousands, of worshippers.
And while you're doing that, you're going to have divine opposition. Deities with similar portfolios are going to try to keep those followers for themselves. Deities with opposing portfolios are going to fight to keep Frey out, because they don't want to allow another enemy to oppose them. You would literally have good guys and bad guys opposing you, for different reasons but with the same end goal.
And then there's the matter of Ao, who may or may not see any reason to let Frey have any influence in the Realms. |
| CorellonsDevout |
Posted - 13 May 2013 : 03:45:38
To add to what Kentinal said, if you worship more than one deity, your soul will be taken in by the one who best reflects what is in your soul (though Shar, Silvanus, and Kossuth would make for a very interesting combo). Perhaps that person worships Silvanus just a little bit more than Kossuth and Shar, in which case, Silvanus would most likely be the one to come to them. |
| Kentinal |
Posted - 13 May 2013 : 00:56:11
Well, an Ed answer can be years in coming.
I though can answer one of your questions. "If a character worships more than one deity (which I'm assuming most people in Faerun do), where would their souls go if they didn't really have a certain patron deity? Say, if a character worshiped Shar, Silvanus and Kossuth together, where would their soul go? Is there some sort of neutral ground where they go or some cultural afterlife like most real world cosmologies have?"
People worship more then one deity as a norm, most select one a patron deity - that being the one that they honor and worship the most. The after life thus becomes the one of the Patron deity.
There is a void that faithless drift in if no deity is Patron, though one certainly could see a deity well worshiped or honored rescuing the soul to their plane. |
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