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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Feb 2008 : 16:45:12
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quote:
Originally posted by DDH_101
Also, to add to Sage's post regarding the worship of Mystra, I don't believe that all Weave users actually worship the Goddess of Magic. They might pay her lip service and give offerings and donations at her church, but that doesn't make her their patron deity.
It's a polytheistic setting though, and most people worship a large number of deities. Personally, I think the "patron deity" concept doesn't fit in with that very will. Also, the term "paying lip service" implies that more casual forms of worship are actually less than sincere, but that doesn't need to be the case. Consider, too, that Mystra seems to emphasize more personal forms of worship (as per F&P), and has a history of worshippers and devotees who run the gamut in terms of alignment. |
"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
31727 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2008 : 00:14:22
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Realmslore shows us that people in Faerūn don't make a deliberate choice about who to worship, often don't have a conscious 'patron' deity at all, don't see religion either in monolatristic terms or in such selfish, personal ones.
It's not unorthodox or uncommon; many characters are known to favour two or three deities approximately equally. Mages often worship Mystra alongside another primary god.
Power of Faerūn clarifies that:- 'Most folk in Faerūn 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'. The FRCS's emphasis on patrons is a rules artefact. |
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DDH_101
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1272 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2008 : 02:11:20
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Stupid question here, but then how is it decided what god you were following when you die?
We know that a person must have some sort of patron deity when they die otherwise they end up in the Fugue Plains. But people can't just say, "Okay... I see Bob the Archmage's fireball coming from a mile away. I know I'm going to be roasted in a couple of seconds so the deity I'm going to follow when I die is Sune. Goddess of Beauty, here I come!"
I remember in Avatar series, one of the protagonist in Prince of Lies (forgot his name) had thought he was a devotee of Torm but because he abandoned his duty as a Purple Dragon and became a mercenary, he ended up becoming a faithless.
If people drift in their worship, what chooses who they follow when they die? |
"Trust in the shadows, for the bright way makes you an easy target." -Mask |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36798 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2008 : 03:42:27
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See, part of the problem with the patron deity concept is that many people think it's all about conscious choice. It isn't. Certainly, a person can choose to venerate one deity more highly than others... But that's not the way it's generally going to work.
I'll use myself as an example. If I was in the Realms, the deities I would favor most are Tymora, Lathander, Shaundakul, Selūne, and Lurue. And maybe Torm, too, because I do take my responsibilities seriously (though I rarely am serious when I discharge them!). So that's six deities I'd pay more attention to than the rest.
But I'd not ignore the rest... If I was concerned about growing some plants, I'd be calling on Chauntea. If I wanted to take a sea voyage, I'd pray to Umberlee to ignore me, to Selūne to guide the ship to the right spot, and Valkur to protect it. I'd pray to Helm that the guys with swords who were watching over me would stay vigilant. I'd ask Talos to keep his storms to himself. I'd pray to Beshaba to turn her attention to some other poor schmuck. And so on.
Where the patron deity comes in, though, is in the worshipper's heart. So the first six deities I mentioned would be the ones I followed the most closely. But, of all of them, the one that most closely matches who I am would be Lurue. She covers those who are whimsical and who hold on to their sense of wonder, and those are two things that fit me perfectly. So even if I gave equal attention to all six -- Lathander, Lurue, Torm, Selūne, Tymora, and Shaundakul -- my nature, the person that I am, my personality would dictate who my patron deity is: Lurue.
Another good example is in the Dark Elf trilogy, with Montolio DeBrouchie (sp?) acting as a mentor to Drizzt. He kept saying things like "heart of a ranger" and saying that it wasn't as much that Drizzt was following Mielikki as it was that Mielikki had chosen Drizzt. Mielikki became his patron deity because his love of and understanding of nature was more inline with her portfolio than any other deity's.
So that's what it comes down to: it's partially choice, but it's also partially the personality of the worshipper. It's a pretty safe bet that what the worshipper is most concerned about and/or interested in is going to fall into the territory of one of the deities the person spends the most time worshipping. |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 22 Feb 2008 03:48:31 |
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Alaundos Prophecies and the Bhaalspawn
