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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 14:12:13
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We have at least two examples of deities "casting off" their divinity shown in canon realmslore. The first was Finder casting it off and the second was Waukeen. What actual form does this take (and I'm obviously looking for a guess here, as I'm pretty sure there's no canon answer)? In the case of Waukeen, she transferred her "divinity" to Lliira during the avatar crisis. Is it just in the form of X amount of energy transferred over? This doesn't quite seem right, because I would think the divinity has some kind of linkage to the portfolio. This makes me think it takes some kind of "quantitative form". I'm thinking of it like a piece of clothing or jewelry that you might wear, in the figurative sense. "Where" does this divinity exist (i.e. is it a real part of our world, or is it somehow tied to a special "plane" that only gods have access to)? While it is discarded, is it able to be modified or siphoned without the owner's knowledge?
Not sure where I'd go with this, but the thought intrigued me, and I figured it was worthy of at least some base level discussion.
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 14:26:11
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Finder imbued his divinity in the half of the finder's stone that he carried.
The banelich had the stone for a while, but wasn't able to access the divinity in it and seemed to only know that it held a lot of power. |
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3806 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 15:01:06
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I would think that -being ''divinity'' basically concepts made manifest (in the form of energy, outer planes or w/e you have)- it is indeed somehow linked to portfolios.
However this is a very abstract concept, since energy isn't some strange liquid or something, but we can only understand it through manifestations (objects falling, heat and so on). Maybe divinity is energy related to its portfolios, it concretizes in the ability to influence/control/represent those, and transferring it to an item/place/being would mean infusing the recipient with such capabilities. Perhaps it could also be set ''free'' by expending it to power a process inherent to what the deity who wishes to discard it stands for (for example, even tho it didn't make the final cut of the latest drow sourcebook, the confusion at the end of LP was going to be explained with Eilistraee and Vhaeraun -combined in the ML- discarding their divinity and using it to power the ritual that turned the drow in brown elves, while becoming mortals). |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 15:09:32
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I think a mineral of some kind is an appropriate form for discarded divinity. Afterall, dead gods turn to stone in the Astral too.
Furthermore, I think a mineral god-crystal's coloring, luminence and opacity can say alot about the deity it is related to. For example red or round crystals are linked to chaos, while lustrous white and spiked crystals are associated with law; green crystals are usually linked to corruption and evil while blue crystals probably associate with good and magic. If such a godcrystal/phylactery is ushered to show its full power, its level can be estimated by the power of its luminescence. Truthfull gods would probably have clear crystals and gods of deceit have murky stones, while those of divinination or time have shifting colorations. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 15:09:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Finder imbued his divinity in the half of the finder's stone that he carried.
The banelich had the stone for a while, but wasn't able to access the divinity in it and seemed to only know that it held a lot of power.
Thank you Wooly! I was going to go back to that book and see if I could read that section, but was dreading it (there's so many old stories that I've totally forgotten the plot of).
So in at least one instance, the "divinity" was given corporeal form (or at least housed in such a form). The fact that the banelich couldn't modify or tamper with it may have just been due to his lack of knowledge. This of course leads to another question... if someone were to tamper with "discarded divinity" while it is off the now non-divine mortal.... would the mortal know about it before they "re-donned" their divinity? For comparison, someone unfamiliar with gemstones who takes off a necklace and puts it back on later may not realize that some of the diamonds are now glass.... or a solidified clear explosive either. Again, I don't think there are wrong answers, but I think its worthy of discussion (and I still don't know where I'm going with it). |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Arcanus
Senior Scribe
485 Posts |
Posted - 06 Sep 2014 : 17:48:51
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| Tyr also gave his divine power away to Torm, although he told his worshipers to worship Torm too. |
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Discarded Divinity
