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xaviera
Learned Scribe
Canada
149 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Dec 2009 : 22:35:13
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Well, Sharess, d-uh. Sune is too superficial about the whole beauty thing and Lliira isn't oriented enough toward love/sex. In fact, I think the three of them should form a triumvirate (triumfeminate?) and join portfolios and then we'd have a real party girl.
I rather like Shar, too.
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Writings on Sharess: Thoughts & Prayers by Xaviera ~ High Priestess of Sharess |
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Kiaransalyn
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
762 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2010 : 14:42:32
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Kiaransalee.
Although I don't like the way she has often been portrayed in the Realms (and in the fiction in general) she has always appealed strongly to me. I like the fact she represents transitions, whereby undeath is a state between life and death. I also like that she is probably the original drow goddess.
In my games and writing, she's a lot more subtle, a lot more evil and definitely enjoyable. |
Death is Life
Love is Hate
Revenge is Forgiveness
Ken: You from the States?
Jimmy: Yeah. But don't hold it against me.
Ken: I'll try not to... Just try not to say anything too loud or crass. |
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Zm
Acolyte
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2010 : 15:44:28
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| Azuth and Mystra definitely. The Art is always exciting! |
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Kyrene
Senior Scribe
South Africa
765 Posts |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4256 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jan 2010 : 19:27:42
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I think my favorite god would have to be Shaundakul.
He was a favorite of mine because he simply seems to fit the adventurous nature of the Dales and Moonsea area. I thought he would experience a massive explosion of faith after the refounding of Myth Drannor....but that will never be.
He is just a frontier god that I felt a connection to out here in Montana. :-)
As for a second choice, it would have to be Tempus...hands down the baddest mofo on the block. Able to slap Bane around (I took that he did this by the mention of Bane trying to take power from him, but being "punished" by not being allowed to specialize with weapons) and only growing stronger ANYTIME there is combat. I just thought of Tempus as a little too chaotic for my taste...I always thought of him more in a Neutral with Chaotic tendencies fashion because of his black and white horses.
Tempus is a real adventurers God if you are martial leaning at all...who wouldn't have Tempus on their lips before every battle against Kobold on up to Dragon?
My last "favorite" choice is Chauntea. As the manifestation of the world itself, she is the most powerful deity in the FR...the only Divine Rank 19 power listed in 3.5; thus making her the most powerful of all. I like her because she has her hands in EVERY nation, people, and power group...doesn't matter if they like it or not; nobody exists without agriculture and those that call on her.
I used Chauntea actually to bring about the happening of many plots and adventures in my campaign, although nobody in my group ever even realized it. If there are battles fought between kingdoms, on what ground do they do battle? If a wizard builds a tower in a remote area and rules over the people there...who do those people call on to protect the crops? If a city is being built as a hub of commerce and social power for the monarchy...on what ground is it being built?
I just think Chauntea has LOTS of uses that folks usually don't consider...and LOTS of things that her clergy would be interested in. In fact, I made her the most politically powerful religion in all of the Heartlands, even influencing the church of Bane in the Moonsea and the church of Torm in the Vast.
While not my true favorite, Chauntea is still hands down the most powerful. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Kiaransalyn
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
762 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jan 2010 : 08:30:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
I just think Chauntea has LOTS of uses that folks usually don't consider...and LOTS of things that her clergy would be interested in.
I like your comments about Chauntea. If you'd care to elaborate on the above quotation, I'd be interested to read your thoughts. |
Death is Life
Love is Hate
Revenge is Forgiveness
Ken: You from the States?
Jimmy: Yeah. But don't hold it against me.
Ken: I'll try not to... Just try not to say anything too loud or crass. |
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Thauramarth
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
735 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jan 2010 : 10:55:22
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| Selûne. Not entirely sure why, although it may have something to do with her being a deity of the night, protectors, etc., along with her having my preferred alignment (CG). Plus, there is this whole rivalry with Shar thing. Oh, and her church has a major presence in Waterdeep. |
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HelldoG
Learned Scribe
101 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2010 : 10:45:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Lurue!
The whole point of a patron deity is that you follow the one who most closely matches your own nature. Here's what the Powers and Pantheons says:
"The Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligent Creatures is often taken with wanderlust. She can be whimsical but is infinitely loyal once she takes someone into her trust, and she never abandons her worshippers in times of need. When faced with no other option that combat, Lurue is a dedicated and intractable foe, but she prefers light banter, clever riddles, new discoveries, and the joyous exploration of life.
The Unicorn is a symbol of hope, joy, salvation, and protection for the needy, forlorn, and forsaken. Life is to be relished and lived with laughter. Quests are to be taken on a dare and gifts are to be made on a whim. Impossible dreams are to be pursued for the sheer wonder of the possibility of their completion. Everyone, no matter how unique, is to be praised for their strengths and comforted in their weaknesses. Evil melts most quickly in the face of a rapier wit and unshackled joy. Search for the unicorn and in the pursuit find happiness.
Many of Lurue's clergy are adventurers who travel about the Realms seeking wrongs to right and finding a good balance of merriment, new experiences, and self-improvement in such a profession."
Plus, the city of Silverymoon was named after her, and that's one of my fave places in the Realms. Her affiliated order, the Order of the Unicorn, was founded by the Knights of the Unicorn, "a romantic, whimsical group of high-born adventurers."
So just about everything that Lurue is about is an aspect of my own personality. I can't think of any deity in any setting that's a better fit for me.
I'm not that similar to Lurue but I like her. One of my dearest NPC's is a CN Druid of Lurue and she's doing almost everything to promote her deity. In my realms I'm planning on making Lurue much powerful, maybe even a greater deity  .
One problem I have whith her is that I don't know how to make her more popular in the realms. |
Away with powergaming propaganda! | I <3 Powergaming!
Don't feed the trolls. Especially the clever ones. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2010 : 11:16:37
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quote:
Originally posted by HelldoG
I'm not that similar to Lurue but I like her. One of my dearest NPC's is a CN Druid of Lurue and she's doing almost everything to promote her deity. In my realms I'm planning on making Lurue much powerful, maybe even a greater deity .
One problem I have whith her is that I don't know how to make her more popular in the realms.
Well... Perhaps it will help you to read this post from Ed and the lovely Lady Hooded One, in response to a query of mine about Lurue:
quote:
Well met again, all. Your Lady Hooded One returns (thank you for that naming, Wooly Rupert!), with Ed’s latest:
Hi, Wooly Rupert. Well, now: Nobanion and Lurue are, of course, the Lion and the Unicorn of British nursery rhyme fame (with all the meanings that go with that, too; they are among other things the supporters of the royal coat of arms for that country, and in many other coats of arms associated with England).
Yet they’re also MUCH more than that. For me, I have to be able to imagine a deity with some awe, and I often do it by attaching to them emotions evoked by other fiction. So, the Lion is also Aslan the Lion in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Christian allegorical fantasy classics soon to appear in a Disney movie that * might * turn out to be okay, and already on film in any number of BBC adaptations down the years, some of them superb). The Narnia books are hated by some, loved by others, but chock-full of little heart-wrenching scenes regardless, and are among the top-selling English-language fiction books of all time.
I didn’t mean my lion-god to BE Aslan, of course; as you saw in that DRAGON article, a lot of names were placeholders at the time, waiting for Mr. Gygax to round out the “official” (Greyhawk) pantheon. Aslan has that name because he has evoke that “awe” for me. The name “Aslan” is Indian in origin (India, not native North American), and the lion is of course a Christian symbol for ‘the King’ from way back, hence its lavish use in royal heraldry.
So “Aslan” went away the moment TSR decided to publish the Realms (mustn’t lift central characters from other authors, even in homage, though I did unwittingly [i.e. I’d forgotten] sneak one direct homage into the Realms [Aglarond, for Tolkien], and beat another well-known fantasy author to a name by coincidence, coining the name “Ashaba” for the river that runs through Shadowdale years before David Eddings used it in his Malloreon books).
Lurue is my own invented name, but it started almost as the deity’s ‘private’ name, with “Silverymoon” being her popular one (and, yes, the city of the same name was originally envisaged as the root and center of her faith). Not only is Lurue the Unicorn of “the Lion and the Unicorn,” she’s also the mysterious, eponymous unicorn from the children’s book THE LITTLE WHITE HORSE by Elizabeth Goudge, AND she’s also meant to evoke the Unicorn of Amber, in Roger Zelazny’s classic Amber books (where the Unicorn inspires awe even among the jaded royal family who use her as their badge). She was always meant to be mysterious, and there’s very little about her that didn’t go into POWERS & PANTHEONS that doesn’t now contradict the published Realms.
Originally, Lurue WAS magic—before Julia Martin added the name “Weave” to my GenCon explanations of ‘the great web of magic that’s everywhere in Toril, binds Toril together, and IS Toril,’ Lurue was the embodiment of the Weave. As such, she could teleport without error or limit, through all barriers and spells, was immune to all known magical [and psionic] effects, could raise dead, heal, regenerate and restore with the touch of her horn—and also spew silver fire from it—and so on. Her very proximity dispels illusions and curses, purifies and neutralizes poisons and taints, and purges diseases. And on and on. [To the usual chorus of “Look, yet another all-powerful Greenwood munchkin!” I reply: Yes. Of course. This is THE all-powerful goddess, and she’s also whimsical. We can’t understand why she does what she does, so she can’t be controlled, or act like any sort of tyrannical munchkin, any more than a mountain range or an ocean can be.] She tended to be as curious as a newborn babe, utterly fearless, and kind to injured creatures. And yes, I tucked in the “patron of virgins, but can also make barren wombs bear” folklore, too. Only virgins could ride her, and those who did got that silver hair the Chosen who are Mystra’s daughters all share, and ‘wild talent’ innate magical abilities, and were marked for special tasks and achievements all their lives.
The TSR designers quite rightly (given the humanocentric core of that version of AD&D, with its level and power limits on non-humans) wanted human gods to be front and center and of the greatest power and importance, so Mystra (most important to intelligent creatures trying to USE magic) became also the Guardian or Mother of the Weave, and Lurue sort of . . . danced sideways. To become the awe-inspiring mystery she is now.
Now, as for the Knights of the Unicorn, I do have more, but dare not pass it on right now for fear of trampling on something another creative person is already working on, in the Realms. That’s one rule I’m going to be very careful not to break, no matter how much we all want to delve into lore and secrets of the Realms. So: sorry, and I hope you’ll understand.
So saith Ed. Thy Hooded One can add this much: we Knights met Lurue once, in the High Forest, on the banks of the Unicorn Run. She was dancing on her hind legs on empty air, about forty feet off the ground, in full silvery moonlight -- and we all grovelled. She LOOKED into our eyes, each of us -- and Ed had written out long, detailed notes for each of us for the dream-visions we received then. When we awakened, we were all reinvigorated, healed of all hurts, had maximum charges in all of our magic items, and so on. The one virgin among us (no, I’m not going to name her, but it wasn’t my character, all you guessers) had been touched by Lurue’s horn, and her eyes were two flames of silver fire. Also, her hair had gone silver and moved constantly by itself, as if waves of wind were passing through it. She gained feather fall and water walk innate abilities on the spot, and ironguard as long as the silver fire was in her. It remained with her as we travelled, until we had to fight a certain archdevil in Myth Drannor.
In that encounter, we were overwhelmed by devils and were going down, just being buried in numbers. The archdevil saw the silver fire and went straight for the particular Knight, and after they’d started to fight and the character was being badly mauled, the player (thank whatever gods there be) REMEMBERED Ed’s notes of her dream-vision, and what she had to do. She fled onto the altar beside the devil (that was also a gate into the Nine Hells), and when the archdevil attacked her there, she embraced it and let it slay her.
And her silver fire went BLAM and took out altar, gate, archdevil, and all the other devils within a MILE, leaving all of us Knights lying dazed, unscathed, and alive . . . except she who’d sacrificed herself. She was gone forever.
And at that moment, far away in Shadowdale, Storm Silverhand was helping a farm wife give birth to her first child, a girl—and it came out stillborn. Storm raised the tiny body to make absolutely sure before she wrapped it and turned to comfort the mother . . . and its eyes opened, and they were silver and knowing, and the mind of our lost Knight was in the now-living child and wondering how by Lurue to tell Storm who she was.
Hmm. I’m crying again, just remembering it.
Another of Ed’s beautiful little moments, that will make me treasure our Realmsplay forever.
Ladies and gentlesirs, I give you: the Realms!
The Hooded One
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2010 : 12:04:31
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This is a tough one. Sharess, Selûne, Bane, Baal, Myrkul (as a deity, allthough I do like the Crown of Horns idea)Shar (without all the WotC nonsense)Sylvanus, Oghma and Mielikki would be a good start to mention. Auril and the elemental deities are also old favourites. I would also add the old beast cults from the Down to Earth divinity article. I think it would bee easier to mention the deities I don't like/use.
And then there is the humanoid deities... |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4256 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2010 : 22:50:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Kiaransalyn
quote:
Originally posted by Dalor Darden
I just think Chauntea has LOTS of uses that folks usually don't consider...and LOTS of things that her clergy would be interested in.
I like your comments about Chauntea. If you'd care to elaborate on the above quotation, I'd be interested to read your thoughts.
Well, lets start with a quote from her description: "Chauntea is one of the oldest Faerûnian deities. Shar and Selùne predate her, having given her life when they created the world of Toril. In the ensuing millennia, Chauntea has forged passionate relationships with several deities, many of whom no longer exist in any meaningful form. So too has she battled (and even destroyed) deities who schemed to befoul Chauntea's world."
That last part "...(and even destroyed) deities..." is most important to me; because in truth she is the only Divine Rank 19 Power in the world. The only God more powerful than her would be Ao! So in effect, no other God can kill Chauntea; but this doesn't mean that she can't destroy them just as quoted.
Through the play of Chauntea's church in my campaign I stuck to one central point (another quote) concerning the members of her church: "Like their deity, most who serve Chauntea are patient and quiet, slow to anger, and prefer passive diplomacy."
Ever the one to read more into something, I thought that this meant that Chauntea's clergy were more movers and shapers in the background than actively militant in the fore of a situation. Their form of "diplomacy" was to foster one element in a long range goal just as they would nurture a crop slowly until it bore fruit.
As an example in my game:
The Dwarf Mort Dragonslayer (and this was not an empty title) sought to resettle the Kingdom of Tethyamar; but of course this was no easy task. Events would occur (as outlined by TSR/WotC) in the future that I knew would allow this to happen; but I didn't like the stark idea of it all.
Mort and his fellows (The Shields of the North) had made many stops within the town of Voonlar in an attempt to curb the activities of the Zhentarim...hoping to draw attention away from Daggerdale so that Mort could act on his true intentions of helping Randal Morn to retake Daggerdale and thus open the opportunity Mort needed to have a solid base to retake the Tethyamar Mines. The High Priest of Chauntea in Voonlar took notice of Mort's band, and even though the party never knew it, he interceded on their behalf.
Through prayer to Chauntea, he asked that his goddess influence events in the favor of Mort and the Shields of the North; he pleaded with his goddess to do this so that the lands of Daggerdale could again be reclaimed and farmed, as well as the crops of Voonlar not be so savaged by the Zhentarim demanding early harvesting many times to ensure the Zhentilar had food stores enough for their actions in the area.
I reasoned that this indeed would be something that Chauntea would wish as well because of the description of the Goddess and her likes and dislikes. Using her godly influence, she moved her significant power to do this; albeit in a slow and unseen manner.
By slowly withdrawing her divine strength from the environs of Zhentil Keep itself, the Gods of Fury were able to bring a horrible winter. This horrible winter also coincided with the desires of Cyric to unleash a large (and now hungry!) horde upon the city of Zhentil Keep.
While many in the world blamed Cyric alone for the events that transpired, I instead reasoned that by Chauntea withdrawing her protection of the lands around Zhentil Keep, the Gods of Fury (particularly Auril) were able to bring a horrible winter, which in turn caused shortages of food, which made it MUCH easier for Cyric to gather the horde that eventually sacked the city of Zhentil Keep...
Zhentil Keep's fall came at such a time that it enabled Randal Morn to throw the influence of the Zhentilar fully from Daggerdale and allowed Mort and his desires to move to fruition as well.
All this happened because one Priest saw a need that he knew his Goddess could make happen...and Chauntea accomplished it all, not by exerting power, but by actually withdrawing her influence from an area so strongly controlled by evil and destructive forces. And the result for Daggerdale and Tethyamar didn't even take into account the lumbering actions of the Zhentarim, the mining of the Zhentarim and etc. that were lessened because of their loss of power.
Also in the campaign, Chauntean Priests of Voonlar and Shadowdale then quickly moved to Daggerdale to begin the reclamation of farm land alongside the farmers that were attracted to free farmland now available in Daggerdale.
The Chaunteans knew in advance that they would be needed if Daggerdale were freed, and so they had prepared. I made special note of how quickly the clerics and druids had returned to the area...but only got a "Well, good thing! They can help get solid crops going so that there will be more food available to tax in the lands claimed by Tethyamar!" by the now "King Mort" of Tethyamar. Mort and the other Shields of the North thought only about the raw power of their swords and spells...and gave no thought to the fact that it only happened because the Mad God Cyric "went nuts"...never thinking of the deeper chain of events that occurred to allow it all to happen.
I thought in my campaign about how Chauntea already influenced the world. Why was it that in lands like Cormyr there were huge crops; but in lands with just as much arable land and even more extensive farming (like Thay) the crops had to be worked so hard? My only conclusion was that in lands treated well by commoner and lord alike, Chauntea's blessings were more manifest.
So in any campaign, what happens when an evil man takes control of an area of land and oppresses the people there? Aren't such lands often seemingly "beset by evil" with the masses going hungry and such...is this ALWAYS the fault of the evil there...or is it maybe the ever so subtle touch of the Goddess Chauntea withholding her blessings which very often results in the oppressed rising up behind a band of noble adventurers to throw off the evil of the land...all the while a humble and "non-combatant" Pastoral Cleric of Chauntea stands by the side to tend the sick and wounded while all this transpires?
Chauntea is the most powerful deity in the Forgotten Realms, and evil gods would do well to realize it. 
I know I thought more and much more deeply in fact, on all about Chauntea in the campaign; but that is all gone out of a head that is often very occupied with other things.
I'm sure that if someone sat for long enough and just thought about how something like a crop could be the most powerful force in a kingdom, then they can realize how powerful Chauntea is! I mean, what tax is there without a crop? How to feed the soldiers? How to draft farmers in the "between times" to do work at the castle or on the roads? The very basis of even a fantasy world (so long as it has farmers working the fields) is the earth they work on...and whatever deity has control of THAT is most likely the most powerful force in the world...even if nobody realizes it because the Earth God (in this case Chauntea) is a subtle old God not so prone to fiery passions, greed or the vain glories that other gods have control of. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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HelldoG
Learned Scribe
101 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jan 2010 : 23:52:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by HelldoG
I'm not that similar to Lurue but I like her. One of my dearest NPC's is a CN Druid of Lurue and she's doing almost everything to promote her deity. In my realms I'm planning on making Lurue much powerful, maybe even a greater deity .
One problem I have whith her is that I don't know how to make her more popular in the realms.
Well... Perhaps it will help you to read this post from Ed and the lovely Lady Hooded One, in response to a query of mine about Lurue:
quote:
Well met again, all. Your Lady Hooded One returns (thank you for that naming, Wooly Rupert!), with Ed#65533;s latest:
Hi, Wooly Rupert. Well, now: Nobanion and Lurue are, of course, the Lion and the Unicorn of British nursery rhyme fame (with all the meanings that go with that, too; they are among other things the supporters of the royal coat of arms for that country, and in many other coats of arms associated with England).
Yet they#65533;re also MUCH more than that. For me, I have to be able to imagine a deity with some awe, and I often do it by attaching to them emotions evoked by other fiction. So, the Lion is also Aslan the Lion in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (Christian allegorical fantasy classics soon to appear in a Disney movie that * might * turn out to be okay, and already on film in any number of BBC adaptations down the years, some of them superb). The Narnia books are hated by some, loved by others, but chock-full of little heart-wrenching scenes regardless, and are among the top-selling English-language fiction books of all time.
I didn#65533;t mean my lion-god to BE Aslan, of course; as you saw in that DRAGON article, a lot of names were placeholders at the time, waiting for Mr. Gygax to round out the #65533;official#65533; (Greyhawk) pantheon. Aslan has that name because he has evoke that #65533;awe#65533; for me. The name #65533;Aslan#65533; is Indian in origin (India, not native North American), and the lion is of course a Christian symbol for #65533;the King#65533; from way back, hence its lavish use in royal heraldry.
So #65533;Aslan#65533; went away the moment TSR decided to publish the Realms (mustn#65533;t lift central characters from other authors, even in homage, though I did unwittingly [i.e. I#65533;d forgotten] sneak one direct homage into the Realms [Aglarond, for Tolkien], and beat another well-known fantasy author to a name by coincidence, coining the name #65533;Ashaba#65533; for the river that runs through Shadowdale years before David Eddings used it in his Malloreon books).
Lurue is my own invented name, but it started almost as the deity#65533;s #65533;private#65533; name, with #65533;Silverymoon#65533; being her popular one (and, yes, the city of the same name was originally envisaged as the root and center of her faith). Not only is Lurue the Unicorn of #65533;the Lion and the Unicorn,#65533; she#65533;s also the mysterious, eponymous unicorn from the children#65533;s book THE LITTLE WHITE HORSE by Elizabeth Goudge, AND she#65533;s also meant to evoke the Unicorn of Amber, in Roger Zelazny#65533;s classic Amber books (where the Unicorn inspires awe even among the jaded royal family who use her as their badge). She was always meant to be mysterious, and there#65533;s very little about her that didn#65533;t go into POWERS & PANTHEONS that doesn#65533;t now contradict the published Realms.
Originally, Lurue WAS magic#65533;before Julia Martin added the name #65533;Weave#65533; to my GenCon explanations of #65533;the great web of magic that#65533;s everywhere in Toril, binds Toril together, and IS Toril,#65533; Lurue was the embodiment of the Weave. As such, she could teleport without error or limit, through all barriers and spells, was immune to all known magical [and psionic] effects, could raise dead, heal, regenerate and restore with the touch of her horn#65533;and also spew silver fire from it#65533;and so on. Her very proximity dispels illusions and curses, purifies and neutralizes poisons and taints, and purges diseases. And on and on. [To the usual chorus of #65533;Look, yet another all-powerful Greenwood munchkin!#65533; I reply: Yes. Of course. This is THE all-powerful goddess, and she#65533;s also whimsical. We can#65533;t understand why she does what she does, so she can#65533;t be controlled, or act like any sort of tyrannical munchkin, any more than a mountain range or an ocean can be.] She tended to be as curious as a newborn babe, utterly fearless, and kind to injured creatures. And yes, I tucked in the #65533;patron of virgins, but can also make barren wombs bear#65533; folklore, too. Only virgins could ride her, and those who did got that silver hair the Chosen who are Mystra#65533;s daughters all share, and #65533;wild talent#65533; innate magical abilities, and were marked for special tasks and achievements all their lives.
The TSR designers quite rightly (given the humanocentric core of that version of AD&D, with its level and power limits on non-humans) wanted human gods to be front and center and of the greatest power and importance, so Mystra (most important to intelligent creatures trying to USE magic) became also the Guardian or Mother of the Weave, and Lurue sort of . . . danced sideways. To become the awe-inspiring mystery she is now.
Now, as for the Knights of the Unicorn, I do have more, but dare not pass it on right now for fear of trampling on something another creative person is already working on, in the Realms. That#65533;s one rule I#65533;m going to be very careful not to break, no matter how much we all want to delve into lore and secrets of the Realms. So: sorry, and I hope you#65533;ll understand.
So saith Ed. Thy Hooded One can add this much: we Knights met Lurue once, in the High Forest, on the banks of the Unicorn Run. She was dancing on her hind legs on empty air, about forty feet off the ground, in full silvery moonlight -- and we all grovelled. She LOOKED into our eyes, each of us -- and Ed had written out long, detailed notes for each of us for the dream-visions we received then. When we awakened, we were all reinvigorated, healed of all hurts, had maximum charges in all of our magic items, and so on. The one virgin among us (no, I#65533;m not going to name her, but it wasn#65533;t my character, all you guessers) had been touched by Lurue#65533;s horn, and her eyes were two flames of silver fire. Also, her hair had gone silver and moved constantly by itself, as if waves of wind were passing through it. She gained feather fall and water walk innate abilities on the spot, and ironguard as long as the silver fire was in her. It remained with her as we travelled, until we had to fight a certain archdevil in Myth Drannor.
In that encounter, we were overwhelmed by devils and were going down, just being buried in numbers. The archdevil saw the silver fire and went straight for the particular Knight, and after they#65533;d started to fight and the character was being badly mauled, the player (thank whatever gods there be) REMEMBERED Ed#65533;s notes of her dream-vision, and what she had to do. She fled onto the altar beside the devil (that was also a gate into the Nine Hells), and when the archdevil attacked her there, she embraced it and let it slay her.
And her silver fire went BLAM and took out altar, gate, archdevil, and all the other devils within a MILE, leaving all of us Knights lying dazed, unscathed, and alive . . . except she who#65533;d sacrificed herself. She was gone forever.
And at that moment, far away in Shadowdale, Storm Silverhand was helping a farm wife give birth to her first child, a girl#65533;and it came out stillborn. Storm raised the tiny body to make absolutely sure before she wrapped it and turned to comfort the mother . . . and its eyes opened, and they were silver and knowing, and the mind of our lost Knight was in the now-living child and wondering how by Lurue to tell Storm who she was.
Hmm. I#65533;m crying again, just remembering it.
Another of Ed#65533;s beautiful little moments, that will make me treasure our Realmsplay forever.
Ladies and gentlesirs, I give you: the Realms!
The Hooded One
Hmm... Well, look at that. I didn't even suspect that Lurue had such a backstory  . Good to know, good to know indeed, thanks Wooly.
As I wrote earlier, I like Lurue and she's probably my favourite GOOD deity (because I didn't pondered about this very much, so I'm not sure).
The EVIL one would by Bane. His just Evil incarnate  (in a way I'm prefering). |
Away with powergaming propaganda! | I <3 Powergaming!
Don't feed the trolls. Especially the clever ones. |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jan 2010 : 01:12:26
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My fave would have to be Eilistraee. She is the only decent drow deity (I LOVES me drow!!)and the only one who is good, which is the alignment I tend to play. I think she is similar to me, because she encourages music, dance, and kindness to others, and is a moon goddess too. I love music and dancing, and though I don't neccessarily enjoy hunting (as part of her portfolio) I can understand how it might appeal to some followers. I also love the swordwork and battle aspects, since I have a keen interest in blades and their use.
I also love Liira, Sune, and Sharess/Bast. They all embody my own fun-loving, sensual side in one way or another, including my love of beauty (of Nature, arts, etc.). Mystra also, because, well- she IS magic! |
The Goddess is alive, and magic is afoot.
"Where Science ends, Magic begins" -Spiral, Uncanny X-Men #491
"You idiots! You've captured their STUNT doubles!" -Spaceballs
Lothir's character background/stats: http://forum.candlekeep.com/pop_profile.asp?mode=display&id=5469
My stories:
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Mickeys_Comic_Tavern/index.php?showforum=188
Lothir, courtesy of Sylinde (Deviant Art)/Luaxena (Chosen of Eilistraee)
http://sylinde.deviantart.com/#/d2z6e4u |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jan 2010 : 16:23:20
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Right off the bat I would have to say Deneir. In all of the novels I have read, he seems the most in-touch with his followers (if they are actually listening). I think it may be because he is a lesser deity, and therefore has less petitions from his followers.
I must also say that I really like all of the (pre 4e) deities (even the evil ones) because their diversity, relationships, rivalries, et cetera is what I would expect and desire from the mixing of the deities of several diverse cultures and races. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jan 2010 : 17:12:05
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| Ach well ... the Realms have 150odd deities and while I haven't used 3/4 of them and would not use about 1/4 of them at all, I wouldn't want to miss any single one. If I would name one or two favourites here, I would instantly think of a couple or so more whom I like as much. Polytheism is such a great thing. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gæð a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerûn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jan 2010 : 23:02:25
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quote:
Originally posted by HawkinstheDM
Right off the bat I would have to say Deneir. In all of the novels I have read, he seems the most in-touch with his followers (if they are actually listening). I think it may be because he is a lesser deity, and therefore has less petitions from his followers.
Deneir's also been a favourite of mine as well, mostly because of the specifics included in his dogma. It describes a lot about how I feel re: knowledge and information. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Mouse
Acolyte
USA
28 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2010 : 12:33:14
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Tempus. He's an ultra-macho God, who's a god of battle, but is neither good nor evil. I like his "play fair, war is a natural thing" ideals, plus his practicality (says he likes a straight-up fight, but a guerilla war against numerically superior foes is totally acceptable).
For evil Gods? Bane, hands down. Cyric is crazy, Mask is a sneaky git, Shar is like the ultimate divine expression of a self-centered nihilistic goth chick, and Lolth is the ultimate divine expression of a self-centered bitter divorcee. Bane is the god of TYRANTS and WIN. Plus he's got badass followers like Fzoul Chymbryl and Manshoon. He gets props for that in my book.
I have been thinking of using the creepy pseudo-God, Tyranthraxus the Possessing Spirit as a major villain in a campaign for awhile though: technically one of the Seven Lost Gods, and now just a disembodied spirit. He'll make an interesting arch-foe: technically you're fighting a God, but he's a basically powerless one, forced to use bodies in an attempt to regain his former status.
Oh god, I actually know who Tyranthraxus is. I feel old now  . |
"Barbarians are more polite then civilized men, for civilized men know they may be rude to another without having their skulls cleaved open as a general thing."
-Conan |
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Amraz one arm
Acolyte
Netherlands
42 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2010 : 15:27:57
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| Mythrien, because my players have NO idea who that is :) I love old dragons.. |
"You smell human to me." |
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danbuter
Seeker
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 01:52:06
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Oghma - I love books. I love history.
Sune - Party girl.
Lliira - Music and parties.
Sharess - Party girl. |
Nothing beats the gray box!
Dan |
Edited by - danbuter on 08 Jan 2010 01:54:18 |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 14:42:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Amraz one arm
Mythrien, because my players have NO idea who that is :) I love old dragons..
I have no idea who that is either. Could you give me a hint or two? |
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Amraz one arm
Acolyte
Netherlands
42 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 16:21:57
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| Seek yeah Magic of the Seldarine or search the scrolls from this extensive library here in the keep |
"You smell human to me." |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 17:19:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
quote:
Originally posted by Amraz one arm
Mythrien, because my players have NO idea who that is :) I love old dragons..
I have no idea who that is either. Could you give me a hint or two?
According to here, Mythrien Sarath is the elven demigod of protection, abjurative magic and Mythals. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 18:17:48
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quote:
Originally posted by HawkinstheDM
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
quote:
Originally posted by Amraz one arm
Mythrien, because my players have NO idea who that is :) I love old dragons..
I have no idea who that is either. Could you give me a hint or two?
According to here, Mythrien Sarath is the elven demigod of protection, abjurative magic and Mythals.
My books are not available at the moment. Is he/she detailed in any of the old demihuman deity books or is it a newer deity? |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2010 : 18:22:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
My books are not available at the moment. Is he/she detailed in any of the old demihuman deity books or is it a newer deity?
Dragon #251, which I believe is from the 2e era. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2010 : 01:02:00
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| Sharess - Obvious reasons |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Stout Heart
Learned Scribe
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jan 2010 : 09:23:39
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| Eilistraee and Lathander second they Represent all things that I strive to embody in life. |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jan 2010 : 10:43:07
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quote:
Originally posted by HawkinstheDM
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
My books are not available at the moment. Is he/she detailed in any of the old demihuman deity books or is it a newer deity?
Dragon #251, which I believe is from the 2e era.
Thanks. The Dragon Magazine archives ends at 250 which explains why I missed it. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jan 2010 : 13:58:40
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Mask or Cyric.
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"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Alystra Illianniis
Great Reader
USA
3750 Posts |
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danbuter
Seeker
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2010 : 01:48:43
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Nothing wrong with a good party ;).
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Nothing beats the gray box!
Dan |
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Topic |
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Who is your favorite FR God and why?
