| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 18 Mar 2021 : 13:55:34
Just curious... I have in my notes that Eldath wasn't seen in the 4e era based on her not appearing in the list of faerunian gods/exarchs in the 4e campaign guide. She's obviously back in 5e. Were there any references during the 4e era to Eldath? |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 23:52:24
quote:
Originally posted by TheIriaeban
So, she would have been sent to Abeir but her shines, etc. would have stayed on Toril?
Shrines and temples are nothing more than buildings. A god goes somewhere else, the buildings are still there. After all, when the Time of Troubles happened and a gods influence didn't extend to their other temples but only a few miles from their mortal avatar, the shrines and temples didn't collapse. Now, in the case of temples they may have become unvisited..... or they may have turned to other uses. For instance, the new candlekeep mysteries has the Tashlutan "House of the All-Seeing Orb" acting like the whole past century in which Savras was gone wasn't that much of a deal for them. Its use may have simply shifted to the study of divination magics as a school in the interim, and when the god returned, new priests came about.
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| TheIriaeban |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 13:41:28
So, she would have been sent to Abeir but her shines, etc. would have stayed on Toril? |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 11:24:39
so, to save anyone else the looking up I just had to do
Myrloch: Oft featured in song, Myrloch is large freshwater lake; its 800 square miles are deep, cold, and clear. Centuries past illuskan settlers built defensible, man-made islands on the loch, called crannógs. Accessible by coracle, these small islands served as shrines to the lake spirit Eldath. A handful of crannóg remain today, preserved by nereids in service to Sarifal.
So, that just says that long ago shrines were setup to "lake spirit" Eldath... which could be taken in many ways. Perhaps one might be that the "earthmother" and "chauntea" and "Maztica" WERE the same being long ago, but that perhaps the elven sundering, which broke up the land, was mirrored in the goddess and tore her apart. It could have similarly affected the goddess of rivers. Or she may have started out as a lesser river spirit and risen to goddess level (probably the easier to reconcile). Or as Storyteller Hero says, she could have split herself into aspects (or been split into aspects). For all we know, Ishtar and Eldath were the same being as well. Lots of possiblilities. Main thing though... doesn't appear that she was in the realms.
For me that makes it likely she can be used as another goddess sent to Abeir, along with Lathander, Talos, Shaundakul, Tyr, Helm and other norse like (metahel) deities. It also makes it useful for the idea I had in another thread involving Lundeth and "the cascades" of the "river Lundeth" with its Fossergrim water spirits to have the 19th level druid that was there be a priestess of Eldath who actually becomes her avatar body while in Abeir.
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| Storyteller Hero |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 08:09:31
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
Interesting. I didn't noticed them before. Of note, the article refers to Eldath as a lake spirit. Wonder if that means Eldath was changed into a primal spirit in 4e...
It's worth noting that the gods, due to the conceptual/quasi-spiritual nature of their bodies, can split off pieces of themselves to form weaker versions or even entirely different beings.
Ubtao for example split off many different pieces of himself to create the jungle spirits of Chult.
It should be very possible for Eldath to split off an aspect that has only a very small amount of power compared to the original, such that it is only known locally as a lake spirit.
Perhaps Eldath lost her divine spark to some extent in the wake of the Spellplague - the loss of peace and the warping of nature in many places could have had a weakening effect on her. It's worth noting that the transition era from 3e to 4e would have been filled with wars thanks to the chaos and damage dealt to many nations - Eldath's faith could have suffered some harm during the turmoil.
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| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 04:20:40
Interesting. I didn't noticed them before. Of note, the article refers to Eldath as a lake spirit. Wonder if that means Eldath was changed into a primal spirit in 4e... |
| Brian R. James |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 03:15:24
A very brief mention of shrines to Eldath can be found in the Realmslore: Sarifal article in Dragon 376. |
| Zeromaru X |
Posted - 18 Mar 2021 : 15:58:28
None that I'm aware of. I'll check my sources later, however. |
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