| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Dec 2011 : 17:14:09
|
What do you think 'Ascension' is? A job promotion?
The mortal being 'merges' with some small part of the cosmos and becomes the deity 'in-charge' of that portion (portfolio). The majority of deities who ascend normally only have one portfolio to start with. Very rarely does a mortal being ascend beyond demi-power (super-heroic status) or lesser god status - that usually happens over time, as they acquire more portfolios.
That means the 'cosmic concept' was there, in 'the ether', waiting to be appropriated. If the power (portfolio) already belongs to someone else, then the mortal must challenge the owner, and that usually doesn't go well (unless the mortal has help, or is VERY well-prepared). Occasionally, a benign deity (and sometimes not-so-benign, like Myrkul) abdicates the power, for whatever reason. Also, small pieces of a portfolio can be 'broken off', as it were, which is what happened in the case of The Red Knight.
The concepts were always there - they just needed a sentience to merge with to become a god. Its more of a symbiotic relationship.
In fact, Ed has even hinted that the goddess of Magic in the Realms must have a mortal sentience to function properly. This probably applies across the board, otherwise all you have is these uncaring cosmic concepts existing with no mortal inter-action (which could be what a Primordial is!) 
Hey Gray! Maybe its not the being that takes on the 'Divine Template' as you have surmised, but rather, the power itself taking on a 'Human Template'.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
Edited by - Markustay on 22 Dec 2011 17:20:08 |
 |
|
|
Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 23 Dec 2011 : 01:00:08
|
Meh. Finder is no replacement for Moander, regardless what canon might claim. Moander was far too interesting to discard, Finder is just a Harper mannequin who forgot his own name. Besides, Finder's claim to portfolio is just a shallow duplicate of elements already governed by Tymora, Mielikki, and Milil.
I submit that Moander's pervasive rotting decay is inextricably entwined within his divine energy. It is only a matter of time before the corruption within his inner divinity begins to transform poor Finder into little more than another avatar/vessel of the unkillable Moander entity. Ao knows this and thus tolerates Finder's redundant presence, for now. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 23 Dec 2011 01:03:08 |
|
|
|
Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 05:19:16
|
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Hey Gray! Maybe its not the being that takes on the 'Divine Template' as you have surmised, but rather, the power itself taking on a 'Human Template'.
There's a precedent for this, though not in D&D. In Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Swamp Thing rises from the burnt corpse of scientist Alec Holland. Fleeing from an explosion in his laboratory, doused in chemicals, he collapses in the muck of the swamp and rises as the plant-man-monster the Swamp Thing.
Later, it is revealed that he is not merely a merging of plant and animal through the combination of fire and chemicals, but rather a supernatural creature, a plant elemental.
Swamp Thing eventually meets the spirit of the real Alec Holland. Swamp thing discovers that he was never Alec Holland, but was always a plant elemental who took on the memories and personality of Alec Holland as a template for his incarnation. Alec Holland goes on to his eternal reward and Swamp Thing realizes he has a greater destiny as a god-like guardian of the ecosphere.
So the idea that a portfolio or raw divine power takes on a human personality as a template or an "interface" for communicating with its mortal worshipers is an intriguing notion.
I should stress that I don't think that's actually what happens with Forgotten Realms deities. But I also can't rule it out. As Ed says, we can never truly know the real truth of the gods. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Aspects
